The Last Time Akida Pulat Saw Her Mother

COVID-19: “THE MAIN PROBLEM WE HAVE HAD IS WITH POLITICIANS WHO CHOSE TO SACRIFICE NURSING HOME RESIDENTS.” —P. 42 P 54 P. WAS 2016 IN MOTHER HER SAW PULAT AKIDA TIME LAST THE CHINA’S UNHEARD VICTIMS EARNING YOUR TRUST, EVERY DAY. 07.18.20

VOLUME 35

NUMBER 13

FEATURES 07.18.20 VOLUME 35 NUMBER 13

42 HOUSES OF DEATH Small Belgium has the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the world, raising questions about restrictive protocols surrounding nursing homes by Mindy Belz

40 48 54 60 LISTENING TO THE WAITING OUT A PANDEMIC A CULTURAL GENOCIDE REASONABLE UNHEARD In 2019, the U.S. organ BEFORE OUR EYES ACCOMMODATION The news cycle is loud, transplant program logged its The Uighur diaspora is The Americans With but we need to hear seventh consecutive year speaking out as family Disabilities Act, which turns those who can’t shout of record-high transplants. members disappear into 30 this month, steered Jim by Michael Reneau The coronavirus threatens reeducation camps in Terry toward a more to reverse that trend Xinjiang, but will the accessible career by Charissa Koh and world listen? by Kim Henderson Daniel James Devine by June Cheng

KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES 07.18.20 WORLD DEPARTMENTS 07.18.20 VOLUME 35 NUMBER 13

5 MAILBAG 8 NOTES FROM THE CEO

TOM HANKS IN GREYHOUND

Dispatches Culture Notebook

13 NEWS ANALYSIS 23 MOVIES & TV 65 BUSINESS The coronavirus spiked Greyhound, The Last Looters and arson in the the movie blockbuster Tree, My Spy, In the THE WORLD Twin Cities destroyed a season, but drama is Footsteps of St. Peter, beloved neighborhood playing out in real life Dads WAR II, drugstore, but owner Jim Stage is confident 15 BY THE NUMBERS 28 BOOKS INSPIRED-BY- God works in the resto- New books look into the ration business 16 HUMAN RACE importance of character TRUE-EVENTS DRAMA IS 68 LAW 17 QUOTABLES 30 CHILDREN’S BOOKS Picture books for sum- ABOUT AS 69 LIFESTYLE 18 QUICK TAKES mertime imaginations PRESTIGE AS 32 Q&A Voices Eric McLaughlin IT GETS. 10 Joel Belz 34 MUSIC 20 Janie B. Cheaney Globetrotters album 38 Mindy Belz

ON THE COVER: pays tribute to a great 71 Andrée Seu Peterson PHOTO BY LUCAS BOLAND American force for good 72 Marvin Olasky

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4 WORLD 07.18.20 MAILBAG

2½ PROVOCATIVE BOOKS ON ABORTION THE PROBLEM WITH SCORPIONS MAY 23, P. 52—REXANN BASSLER ON WNG.ORG MAY 23, P. 70—BRAD O’BRIEN ON WNG.ORG The terrified women ofIn Necessity Presidents from Jimmy Carter to and Sorrow, sitting in an abortion George W. Bush campaigned to have center “like lost souls before the final Congress give China “Most Favored judgment,” reminded me of women I Nation” trade status. It didn’t quite have counseled in post-abortion Bible work out as well as they hoped. And studies. They told of sitting in abor- as the U.S. has stepped back from tion facility waiting rooms while funding the UN, the Chinese have screaming on the inside. Some said if stepped up to influence UN agencies. only one person had said something to them, they would have walked out. We must continue the fight. STALLING TACTICS MAY 23, P. 52—SHERYL NELSON ON FACEBOOK Refugee camps already have poor COVID-19: A TIMELINE nutrition and sanitation. Adding fear, MAY 23, P. 49—MARIANNE MILLER ON WNG.ORG 2½ PROVOCATIVE depression, and desperation further I appreciate how this timeline holds compromises people’s immune sys- responsible the Chinese Communist BOOKS ON ABORTION tems, leaving otherwise healthy peo- Party and its supporters in the WHO. Understanding the ple vulnerable to COVID-19. We are grateful to Chinese citizens, physicians, and others who tried to perspectives of people warn the world despite personal con- you disagree with, LEAVING THEIR MARKS sequences. and putting a face on MAY 23, P. 36—LARRY BARNES/SMITHFIELD, N.C. them, allows for more I enjoyed your article on Bill Withers. MARYJO DAWSON/TRINIDAD, COLO. Every time I hear “Lean On Me,” it We have only a few documented cases compassion. This was takes me back to 1972, driving to my of coronavirus in our county but are a heartbreaking read. first job out of college. Now I’m under the same restrictions as the rest MAY 23, P. 58—CHRISTY DAVIS retired, and I wonder how nearly 50 of the state. Why do we have to abide NORDSTROM ON FACEBOOK years went by so fast. by rules that make no sense, are costly to small businesses, and keep us from worshipping together? SAVE THE HUMMINGBIRDS MAY 23, P. 72—ERIN DAVIS ROWE ON FACEBOOK DUNCAN HOLMES/FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS I love my beautiful ruby-throated I’m blind and can deal with a mask. hummers but, wow, they are territo- But as a recent widower after a rial. It’s like Ultimate Cage Fighting 43-year marriage, social distancing is around the feeder. Maybe I should put very lonely. We blind folks rely on out another one. touch, and I hear the age of hugging, shaking hands, and using shoulders as crying posts is over. I hope not. CORRECTIONS Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Ala. ARE WE DECADENT? (“Both sides, now,” June 27, p. 50). MAY 23, P. 32—FRED KERR/WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. LETTERS AND COMMENTS

I live in another world than Ross EMAIL [email protected] A photo for the television review Douthat’s “decadent prosperity.” The MAIL WORLD Mailbag, PO Box 20002, “Superhero or super-stereotypes?” Asheville, NC 28802-9998 rich and powerful have perks, but is WEBSITE wng.org (June 27, p. 27) depicted a previous this new? This affluence is quite FACEBOOK facebook.com/WNGdotorg film with the same name, not the CW TWITTER @WNGdotorg checkered in my view, and the many, INSTAGRAM instagram.com/WNGdotorg series. many low-wage earners living hand- PLEASE INCLUDE FULL NAME AND ADDRESS. LETTERS MAY BE EDITED TO YIELD to-mouth saddens me. BREVITY AND CLARITY. READ MORE MAILBAG LETTERS AT WNG.ORG

07.18.20 WORLD 5 Great Value and a Great Alternative for the Coming Academic Year

A COVID-19 UPDATE

BETHLEHEM COLLEGE & SEMINARY INTENDS, BY GOD’S GRACE, TO RESUME IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION WHEN SCHOOL BEGINS AGAIN ON AUGUST 24, 2020.

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Take a few moments to consider this video message GRADUATE AS A MATURE ADULT READY TO WITNESS from Chancellor John Piper at www.bcsmn.edu/college. FOR CHRIST WITH WISDOM AND WONDER FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

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A $10,000 SERIOUS JOY SCHOLARSHIP IS AWARDED TO ALL STUDENTS ANNUALLY TO ENABLE THEM TO LAUNCH INTO LIFE AND MINISTRY WITHOUT STUDENT LOAN DEBT.

BCS_College 2.0 ad__8x10.5__WM__04.29.20.indd All Pages 4/29/20 12:23 PM Publication Dimensions Advertiser Contact Design/production World Magazine 8 x 10.5 (page) Bethlehem College Leah Bruneau Bob Goebel 16 x 10.5 (spread) & Seminary 612.455.3420; x1113 651.983.7029 .25 bleed [email protected] [email protected] Great Value and a Great Alternative for the Coming Academic Year

A COVID-19 UPDATE

BETHLEHEM COLLEGE & SEMINARY INTENDS, BY GOD’S GRACE, TO RESUME IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION WHEN SCHOOL BEGINS AGAIN ON AUGUST 24, 2020.

RICH SOCIABILITY AT VERY SMALL SCALE INSTRUCTION BY DEGREED PROFESSORS

NEW AND TRANSFER APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED UNTIL AUGUST 24, 2020.

Don’t waste your college life. Spend it in an intentionally

A $10,000 SERIOUS JOY SCHOLARSHIP IS AWARDED TO ALL STUDENTS ANNUALLY TO ENABLE THEM TO LAUNCH INTO LIFE AND MINISTRY WITHOUT STUDENT LOAN DEBT.

BCS_College 2.0 ad__8x10.5__WM__04.29.20.indd All Pages 4/29/20 12:23 PM Publication Dimensions Advertiser Contact Design/production World Magazine 8 x 10.5 (page) Bethlehem College Leah Bruneau Bob Goebel 16 x 10.5 (spread) & Seminary 612.455.3420; x1113 651.983.7029 .25 bleed [email protected] [email protected] WHEN I SEE THE Notes from the CEO KEVIN MARTIN 35 YEARS OF NEWS STORIES THAT WORLD HAS COVERED, ENCAPSULATED IN THOSE COVER IMAGES, I SEE THE HAND OF GOD.

Warren Rudman of the eponymous Defi- cit Control Act), all the way through to 2019’s “News of the Year” cover. Along the way, one can pick out 22 Daniels of the Year, 14 Hope Awards issues, and 24 covers marking the tragic anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, along with multiple covers surrounding eight presidential elec- tions. There’s space for several more The sweep of our history years before we have to shift them all A display of WORLD’s covers—all to the left to make room for more, if the Lord wills that we continue that long. 1,200-plus of them—shows God’s provision Even with every cover reduced to 3 for our small organization inches by 4 inches, and packed together as tightly as practical, the 1,200-plus images snake through several rooms ’VE NOTED HERE A FEW TIMES that our office space itself is a and down a main hallway in our office— display of God’s providence. Now, thanks to the creative vision that’s a snake almost 4 feet wide and of Andrew Belz, our office space contains a specific display of well over 50 feet long. God’s providence in the form of a timeline of WORLD covers Just getting images of all the covers from the first issue to the end of 2019. took some time. It’s pretty easy to see Andrew, who works in our development department, told the entire project as a labor of love for me he got the idea when he found himself getting caught up in Andrew. I the seemingly endless news cycles: “We are always moving from A few weeks ago, Andrew walked his one news assignment to the next, and sometimes it’s hard to see what oldest brother, Joel, through the display. God is doing in the moment. I wanted a way to step back and see the He hoped to convey the scope of the job sweep of our history. by telling Joel, “This project has taken “When I see the 35 years of news stories that WORLD has covered, me over three weeks.” encapsulated in those cover images, I see the hand of God. He’s been at Joel replied, “This project has taken work for far longer than those years, but being able to see that snapshot me over 30 years!” Indeed, a display of in one place is quite moving. It gives me hope.” God’s providence. I see the hand of God in those images for another reason: His provision for our small organization, His multiplication of our work to bless millions of people, His tender care for the people who put all those magazines together, and His bringing our members beside us in our work. Andrew is right—it is quite moving. The display shows an image of every single WORLD Magazine cover from Issue 1 (trivia answer: the first cover showed Phil Gramm and EMAIL [email protected]

8 WORLD 07.18.20

THE HOBBS AND HAWKINS Voices JOEL BELZ FEATURE INCLUDES PRECIOUS LITTLE HARD DATA.

School District: “We all know,” he said, “that there’s no substitute for learning in a school setting, and many students are struggling and falling far behind where they should be.” But if “we all know” this, what is the discussion all about? And doesn’t early June strike us all as a bit Not remotely fair early to be evaluating an academic semester that hasn’t even ended yet? Aren’t we jumping the gun when we The Wall Street Journal declare “The Results Are In for Remote Learning: It has a lot to learn about Didn’t Work”? Might a thoughtful “progress report” remote education have shown a bit more inclination to hear every side of the story? As it is, the Hobbs and Hawkins feature includes O IF THE HIGHLY REGARDED Wall Street precious little hard data from which the reader can Journal, in a lengthy and spacious front- begin to form opinions. When it does, the data prove page feature, proclaimed to the world that pretty soft: “Preliminary research suggests students you had utterly failed when you recently nationwide will return to school in the fall with roughly took on the hardest challenge of your life— 70 percent of learning gains in reading relative to a how would you respond? typical school year, and less than 50 percent in math, That’s pretty much what the Journal did according to projections by NWEA, an Oregon-based S in mid-June, I think, when it used a Page 1 nonprofit that provides research to help educators headline to declare: “The Results Are In for Remote tailor instruction.” Learning: It Didn’t Work.” The subhead on the second But words like “preliminary” and “projections” page stressed the same point: “Remote Learning Falls seem a little squishy to serve as foundations for head- Short.” lines proclaiming that “results are in.” But not all “remote learning” is alike, of course. The Hobbs-Hawkins article is also flawed by includ- And for thousands of WSJ readers who are also loyal ing several categories of “exceptional” students as if homeschoolers, the article came across as a careless they were harder for remote teachers to deal with than slur against a tried-and-true educational model. WSJ traditional teachers. Included was the mother of an reporters Tawnell Hobbs and Lee Hawkins should have autistic son, another a teacher concerned about the stressed early on that their focus was almost exclusively likelihood of cheating by remote students, and yet on the “remote learning” used nationwide to respond— another self-conscious about her own fairness in at the last minute—to school closures for most of the awarding grades. But if these remain from year to year spring months. That important distinction would have as problems in traditional settings, they should hardly helped greatly. be included in a report on the limitations of remote But, of course, what happened between February learning in the wildly sensational days of COVID-19. and June of this year was hardly an even test of the “Exceptional” students are just that—exceptional. capabilities of remote learning. Cobbled together by Why does it matter? Because in a variety of ways, educators who had never spent 10 minutes leading remote learning will for a variety of reasons be play- any form of “distance education,” the project was set ing a bigger and bigger role in the years ahead in the up for failure before it got off the ground. Many, if not families of WORLD readers. That will be true in pub- most, of the participants had no confidence at all in lic school settings, traditional Christian schools, and the experiment they were asked to direct. homeschools. That is why reporters Hobbs and Hawkins had to There will be problems along the way—some seen beg the question by including the perspective of Aus- as so serious that a number of folks will back off and tin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified look for something else. But there’s no reason to let that number be unduly inflated by overly negative reports in The Wall Street Journal.

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News Analysis By the Numbers Human Race Quotables Quick Takes

Summer sequels The coronavirus spiked the movie blockbuster season, but drama is playing out in real life

by Michael Reneau

N JUNE AND JULY, Americans usually fill movie theaters and gobble up hulking tubs MINNESOTA STATE TROOPERS of popcorn. But this year the coronavirus derailed a spate of Hollywood sequels and SURROUND A reboots: another James Bond movie, Disney’s live-action Mulan, at least three comic STATUE OF CHRISTOPHER book spinoffs, and even aTop Gun sequel—34 years after the original. COLUMBUS If would-have-been marquees show there’s nothing new in the cinema, news AFTER PROTESTERS headlines evidenced there’s nothing new under the sun: Heading into the Fourth of TOPPLED IT IN July holiday, Americans struggled—sometimes with each other—over long-standing ST. PAUL, MINN. I debates and old storylines that reemerged. LEILA NAVIDI/STAR TRIBUNE VIA GETTY IMAGES 07.18.20 WORLD 13 DISPATCHES News Analysis The coronavirus death toll hadn’t caught up as of late June, but many states saw a COVID-19 sequel. Texas, Florida, California, and Arizona were Like past American summers—such among the states seeing resurgences as after 2015’s Charleston, S.C., church and scaled back reopening plans ahead shooting and 2017’s deadly riot in Char- of the holiday. The United States hadn’t lottesville, Va.—racial tensions again yet seen an uptick in COVID-19 deaths crescendoed. June began with peaceful A THRONG TORE associated with the surge in cases, but protests followed by violent riots and DOWN A STATUE on June 28 the world passed a grim mile- concluded with rallies calling for lead- stone: 500,000 confirmed deaths and ers to remove Confederate monuments OF COL. HANS 10 million confirmed cases. in public places. Crowds in several CHRISTIAN HEG— Christians watched one more famil- places toppled statues themselves, AN ABOLITIONIST iar story: A split Supreme Court decision including in Richmond, Va., where Con- that may jeopardize religious freedom federate monuments used to line a main WHO BEFORE THE protections and another that cuts out a thoroughfare. CIVIL WAR FOUGHT Louisiana law to protect unborn babies But mobs do damage to all: In Mad- RUNAWAY-SLAVE and their mothers. On June 18 the court ison, Wis., on June 23, a throng tore ruled 6-3 that employers who fire down a statue of Col. Hans Christian CATCHERS AND employees for being gay or transgender Heg—an abolitionist who before the DIED FIGHTING FOR violate the Civil Rights Act. In his writ- Civil War fought runaway-slave catchers THE UNION DURING ten opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch left and died fighting for the Union during open whether a religious freedom the Battle of Chickamauga. Many cities THE BATTLE OF defense would protect conscience rights. will debate removal of Confederate CHICKAMAUGA. Then on June 29, the court struck down monuments, but on June 28 the Missis- the Louisiana law 5-4. Chief Justice John sippi Legislature voted to remove the Roberts was the swing vote. Confederate battle emblem from its But the next day came a plot twist: state flag, the last to enshrine the sym- The court declared unconstitutional a bol. Montana ruling that barred students In a familiar plot, Republicans and there from using state tuition aid for Democrats failed to capitalize on com- religious schools. mon ground on police reform (see p. 40). Meanwhile, big cities experienced historic gun violence. On June 26 a Chi- cago gunman killed a 20-month-old boy and injured his mother when he opened fire on their car. The same weekend a stray bullet killed a 10-year-old girl there. Those were two of 18 homicides in the city in one weekend. The previous weekend 106 people were shot and 14 died. In a 28-day period beginning in late May, Chicago saw 96 homicides. New York watched the same shooter story: Over a nine-day period beginning June 19, 112 people were shot. The blood- iest day on June 20 included 18 shootings and 24 victims. The death toll in New York was lower as of June 30, with only six people dead of the 112. Meanwhile, more shootings around the country happened at George Floyd– related demonstrations, including at Seattle’s Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, where at least two people had died in four shootings.

14 WORLD 07.18.20 DISPATCHES By the Numbers COVID-19 IN 161 THE STATES The number of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 persons in New York as of June 24, according to Statista. 147 The number of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 persons in New Jersey as of June 24. 3 The number of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 persons in Wyoming as of June 24. 2 The number of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 persons in Alaska and Montana as of June 24.

THE NUMBER OF COVID-19 DEATHS per 100,000 persons in the United 37 States as of June 25, according to Johns Hopkins University. This gave the United States the seventh-highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in the 1 world, with Belgium leading with 85 deaths per 100,000 persons (see The number of COVID-19 p. 42). The United Kingdom had 64 and Spain had 60. (Numbers from other coun- deaths per 100,000 tries, such as China, are unreliable.) In the United States, the Northeastern states persons in Hawaii as increased the U.S. average with New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachu- of June 24. setts all having more than 100 deaths per 100,000 persons. South Dakota, which did not have a mandatory COVID-19 lockdown, had 9 deaths per 100,000 persons.

ILLUSTRATION BY KRIEG BARRIE 07.18.20 WORLD 15 DISPATCHES Human Race IMPOSED Twenty-three years after the Chinese government pledged to give Hong Kong 50 years of autonomy, the mainland has stripped the former British colony of its freedoms by passing a contentious law that would quash dissent. Rather than going through the Hong Kong legislature, Beijing took matters into its own hands after last year’s widespread anti-government protests. The Chinese government first endorsed the law, which criminalizes subversive and seces- sionist activities, at its annual congress in May.

UPHELD Demanding hospitals publish the costs of basic medical procedures in a user- friendly manner does not violate the First Amendment, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols upheld a new federal requirement that hospitals and insurance companies must make public the negotiated prices of common healthcare services. The American Hos- pital Association, an industry trade group, plans to appeal the decision. Melinda Hatton, attorney for the hospital association, argued requiring price

DEMONSTRATORS GATHER OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. CAPITOL IN SUPPORT OF DACA. disclosure imposes undue burdens on hospitals already stretched by the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Health and OVERRULED Human Services Department argued transparency would encourage compe- tition among hospitals and help con- Court keeps DACA alive sumers make informed decisions.

Trump administration will try again to end DIED Obama-era immigration program Comedy legend Carl Reiner, the creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show, died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., on June 29 HIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS JOINED the liberal wing of the U.S. at age 98. Reiner won five Emmys for Supreme Court to uphold Obama-era legal protections for immigrants writing and producing The Dick Van who illegally entered the United States as children. President Donald Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966 Trump’s administration argued that the Deferred Action for Child- and garnered 15 total Emmys. He also hood Arrivals (DACA) program was illegal and the courts had no acted in The Russians Are Coming, the authority to review its decision to end it. The program provides legal Russians Are Coming, It’s a Mad, Mad, shelter for about 650,000 immigrants. The court’s decision, however, Mad, Mad World, and the latest Oceans may not stand indefinitely. The justices ruled the administration did Eleven movies. His directorial credits C not follow the right steps when it tried to end DACA. Ken Cuccinelli, included Oh, God! starring George Burns acting head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said and All of Me with Steve Martin and Lily the agency is planning to try to end the program again. It’s unclear Tomlin. He was married to his wife, if the Trump administration could complete the process before the Estelle, for 64 years until her death in presidential election in November. 2008. They had three children: actor-director Rob, playwright-poet Annie, and actor-director Lucas.

16 WORLD 07.18.20 SAMUEL CORUM/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES DISPATCHES Quotables

“When is this gonna stop?” Chicago Police Chief FRED WALLER after the killing of 20-month-old Sincere Gaston, who was shot in his car seat while riding with his mother in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. The pace of homicides in Chicago grew rapidly in June, with 89 people killed.

“It is the system that obliterates people’s sense of humanity.” Badminton world champion YE ZHAOYING, a household name in China, in a rare attack on the Chinese Communist Party.

“It isn’t hateful for women [to] speak about their own experiences, nor do they deserve shaming for doing so.” Author and feminist J.K. ROWLING on attacks she’s received from transgender activists for her opposition to parts of the transgender agenda, such as the allowing of men who identify as women into women’s changing rooms and restrooms.

“These are historical price changes we have never seen in a short window.” JAGTAR NIJJAR of Gordon Food Service, one of the biggest food-service distributors in the United States, on the fast rise of store-bought food prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ll vet a few of them to make sure they’re not weirdos. This could be a little Wrigleyville kind of thing.” San Diego Padres fan CHIP MESSENGER, whose condo overlooks the Padres’ Petco Park. He said he’d be willing to open his condo to others who want to watch baseball games when an abbreviated season begins—without fans in the stands.

07.18.20 WORLD 17 DISPATCHES Quick Takes

A PARK BY ANY OTHER NAME Res- 2 idents of the coastal town of Flor- ence, Ore., have voted to memorialize a gruesome event in 1970 by naming a new local park the “Exploding Whale Memorial Park.” The name is an homage to the time when a 45-foot dead whale washed ashore. City officials used dyna- mite to explode the whale on shore. After the advent of YouTube, local 1 media coverage of the explosion became widely seen. According to city officials, LOW-DECIBEL THRILLS the new park will provide canoe and kayak access to the Siuslaw River and will also include picnic shelters. AN ASSOCIATION OF AMUSEMENT PARK OWNERS in Japan is asking WOMEN RIDE A ROLLER customers to stop screaming on roller coasters. As the nation comes COASTER SERVING UP TRUTH While author- out of quarantine, officials with the East and West Japan Theme Park AT THE 3 ities have allowed bars and shops TOSHIMAEN Associations say customers should maintain social distance, keep AMUSEMENT to reopen in Argentina, restrictions conversations to a minimum, and keep their mouths closed while PARK IN remain on churches that limit congre- TOKYO. on park thrill rides. This will be difficult for riders on some roller gations to just 10 people. This discrep- coasters: A ride at one park reportedly travels at 112 mph; a ride at ancy gave one Argentine pastor an idea. another park is one of the tallest roller coasters in the world at 318 Pastor Daniel Cattaneo said he has feet and also one of the longest at more than 8,100 feet; another turned the Comunidad Redentor evan- ride has seven inversions. Officials say the no-screaming rule will gelical church in San Lorenzo into a bar. help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The guidelines from the Cattaneo says his pastors carry around association of 30 Japanese theme parks also suggest park employees trays with Bibles to replicate the actions keep spoken words to a minimum by using “a combination of smiley of waiters. “We are standing here today eyes, hand gestures, etc., to communicate with visitors.” Some major dressed like this, carrying a tray, Japanese theme parks had been closed since early February. because it seems this is the only way we can serve the Word of God,” Cattaneo said in June.

18 WORLD 07.18.20 2

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THE ULTIMATE BASEBALL NO HORSING AROUND A KFC fran- EXPERIENCE. on Airbnb, a popular hotel alternative. 4 chise in the United Kingdom is Customers who pay the $1,500 get what standing firm against a discrimination the Blue Wahoos posting calls “the ulti- complaint about the restaurant’s drive- mate baseball experience.” Guests can thru lane. Ian Bell of Silloth in northern play on the field, lounge in the dugout, England says staff at the KFC in nearby or relax in the clubhouse. According to Carlisle refused to serve him when he the listing, the stadium will accommo- drove his horse and cart into the drive- date 10 overnight guests, and a repre- thru lane. Bell, who is an itinerant Irish LOCKDOWN HUNGER A loosening sentative of the team will be on-site to Traveller, told the BBC the restaurant’s 6 of lockdown orders may be great provide security and answer questions. prohibition against horse-drawn vehi- news for the world’s rats. In May, the U.S. cles “is downright disgusting”: “I felt Centers for Disease Control and Preven- A BIG MONEY DROP Having a bit of humiliated.” After being turned away, tion warned Americans about urban rats 8 time on a Saturday afternoon drive Bell and his pony Jon Jon were able to exhibiting “unusual or aggressive” through Virginia, Emily Schantz decided use the drive-thru at a local McDonald’s. behavior because of the closure of many to stop and pick up a bag left in the restaurants and a diminution of street roadway that a car in front of her MAKING WAVES With conventional garbage. The CDC said some food- swerved to miss. Assuming it was trash, 5 graduation ceremonies out of the stressed rodents had turned to cannibal- Schantz and her two sons pitched the question amid the coronavirus pan- ism to survive while others had fled to bag in the bed of their truck. After demic, one Florida charter school took the suburbs. Rodentologist Bobby Cor- returning to their home in Caroline to the water. Seniors at Somerset Island rigan told The Washington Post that County, Va., the Schantzes discovered Prep in Key West, Fla., celebrated their many rats in cities depend on “restau- the bag was stuffed with about $1 million graduation on jet skis. Wearing caps and rants and hotels and bars and doughnut in cash. Rather than hide the loot, gowns over life jackets, each graduating shops and everything that we consume Schantz phoned local deputies about senior rode a jet ski past an anchored on the go” for their nightly food. the money. Caroline County deputies boat where the principal handed the believe the money belonged to the U.S. student his or her diploma on a pole. A NIGHT IN THE PARK Without Postal Service and was bound for a bank. Board chairman Todd German told 7 baseball games to play, owners of Maj. Scott Moser of the sheriff’s office WCJB the unconventional event “is a the Pensacola Blue Wahoos are looking praised the family for turning the money perfect example of the innovative mind- for ways to generate revenue. The minor in: “For someone so honest and willing set that permeates Somerset Island league, Class AA affiliate of the Minne- to give that almost a million dollars Prep.” sota Twins listed Blue Wahoos Stadium back, it’s exceptional on their part.”

1: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES; 2: CITY OF FLORENCE, OREGON; 3: ISTOCK; 4: STUART WALKER/ 07.18.20 WORLD 19 SWNS; 5: SOMERSET ISLAND PREP; 6: ARTERRA PICTURE LIBRARY/ALAMY; 7: AIRBNB; 8: HANDOUT FORCED REDISTRIBUTION Voices JANIE B. CHEANEY AS A POLICY REFUSES TO DIE. UNTIL, PERHAPS, IT DROWNS US IN DEBT.

perhaps Western culture, where the idea took root. Multicultural outreach is a Christian idea; multicul- turalism is an ideology. “Follow your heart.” There are over 600 Scriptural references to the heart, all of them relating to personal conviction, personal conscience, or the individual’s standing before God: “Keep your heart with all dili- Cheap knockoffs gence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). In the ancient world, self-contemplation was Five Christian heresies that for philosophers, while the masses were supposed to made the modern world accept their lot in life and keep noses to grindstones. Augustine’s Confessions, a “heart biography,” was the first of a genre that defined Western contemplation OD DOES NOT BODILY DESCEND into the world and reflection, but Augustine was only expanding on without changing it forever. Those who fear Paul the soul searcher and David the psalm singer: our culture is returning to paganism are “Test me, O God, and try my heart.” wrong: Our culture is developing an uneasy From “try your heart” to “follow your heart” is a mix of pagan worldview saturated with per- one-word change and an epoch-making leap, from versions of Christian teaching. For example: self-examination to self-sovereignty. Among other Redistribution of wealth may have begun vexations, it’s led to an obsession with personal iden- G with Jesus’ words to the Rich Young Ruler, tity and demands for backup from society in general. which the early church in Jerusalem took literally: “Just believe.” Faith is central to Judaism, even “They were selling their possessions and belongings more so to Christianity: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). But aren’t all reli- (Acts 2:45). Though temporary, it’s the first docu- gions based on faith? Not so much—some measure of mented instance of creedal, rather than tribal, redis- belief is assumed in all religions, but not “counted as tribution, a principle later tried by countless utopian righteousness.” Christianity’s emphasis on faith has communes in Europe and America. Karl Marx’s ver- devolved to faith in faith and living your truth. Religion sion—“From each according to his ability, to each in general is reduced to “faith traditions.” Though according to his need”—sparked a revolution. It failed most local ministries are specifically Christian, the morally as well as practically because it violated the “faith-based” label washes out that distinction and Christian principle of voluntary giving. Still, forced implies all faiths are equally valid. redistribution as a policy refuses to die. Until, perhaps, False humility. In the ancient world, humility was it drowns us in debt and entitlement. a virtue only for the humiliated—those who by birth Universal brotherhood. Wait—isn’t this true? Didn’t or circumstance could never approach the social lad- Paul preach that “[God] made from one man every der. Shockingly, Christians worshipped a God who nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth”? humbled Himself to a shameful death and commanded And didn’t he go on to quote the poet Epictetus: “We His followers to serve not rule. Ever since, it’s bad form are indeed his offspring” (Acts 17:26, 28)? Yes, and to brag. But because true humility requires an encoun- Paul’s mission to the Gentiles was not just a turning ter with the Holy Spirit, this Christian virtue is easily point in the Church but in all of world history. The twisted into forms like humble-bragging, false mod- truth that each person is created in the image of God, esty, and apologies that turn breast-beaters into the regardless of color or status, appeared first in the virtuous “woke.” Judeo-Christian tradition and became the bedrock of There’s more: Original sin morphs into systemic all human rights crusades. guilt; responsible stewardship becomes radical envi- The modern world extrapolates from individual ronmentalism; “gospel” can be any new thing that worth to insist that cultures are equally valid—except promises self-fulfillment. God descends; the world changes. And Christians must be ever watchful to guard true revelation from its many counterfeits.

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Movies & TV Books Children’s Books Q&A Music

ALMOST A1 CINEMA Greyhound has good elements but needs more to get past middling

By Megan Basham

NIKO TAVERNISE/SONY PICTURES 07.18.20 WORLD 23 CULTURE Movies & TV as a dove. The film is rated PG-13 for war violence and language, but quick asides of, “Sorry Captain,” whenever the crew let slip a profanity make it clear Krause doesn’t approve, no matter the provo- T’S AN ILL WIND THAT BLOWS NO ONE ANY GOOD. And the pandemic that cation. exploded Hollywood’s traditional release model has acted as jet fuel to The thrilling action sequences and the expansion plans of streaming outlets. Case in point: Greyhound. patriotic themes make it a shame other Based on the 1955 C.S. Forester novel The Good Shepherd, the World elements of the film don’t hold up as War II, inspired-by-true-events drama is about as prestige as it gets. Its well. Most movies suffer from being writer and star is arguably the most A-list performer of our time, Tom overstuffed, butGreyhound feels like it Hanks. He plays United States Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause. He and his crew could have used a bit more. At a brief must provide escort to a convoy of Allied ships bringing troops and sup- 91 minutes, Hanks and his team could I plies across an area of the Atlantic known as the “Black Pit,” due to it have taken another half hour to add being out of range of air cover. No surprise, Greyhound was originally scheduled deeper layers to the characters. Krause to hit theaters on Father’s Day weekend—perfect timing to capitalize on summer is the only figure we feel much for, and crowds in the market for a dad-pleasing option. When COVID-19 nixed that plan, many industry insiders expected Sony to shelve the film until fall. Instead, the studio partnered with Apple TV+ to release it on July 10 in a move entertainment news site Deadline described as “a real shocker.” Apple’s $70 million purchase marked the company’s biggest feature film commitment so far and could signal a turning point in the war for entertainment dominance. It could also signal that the streaming platform intends to make its mark by going less gritty than competitors Netflix and Amazon. As the USS Keeling, better known by call sign “Greyhound,” begins the haz- ardous trek toward Great Britain, Krause, who’s never commanded before, finds his tactical skill tested to the break- even he is thinly drawn. We know he’s a ing point. committed Christian and that he hopes Often when studios promote films to to survive to marry his sweetheart, Eva. Christian press as having a “faith ele- But beyond that he’s a bit of a blank ment,” it means a character mentions a slate. Bible or maybe wears a cross around his THE THRILLING Are Krause and Eva widowers, neck. Not so with Greyhound. Krause is divorcés? Did they meet in youth and no blink-and-you’ll-miss-it believer. In ACTION SEQUENCES lose touch? Why aren’t these two mid- various situations he prays for wisdom AND PATRIOTIC dle-aged people married already? The to execute his mission, thanks God for THEMES MAKE IT A Wikipedia entry on Forester’s novel says preserving his life, and prods the men Krause “broods over his career; his wife under him to remember casualties as SHAME OTHER left him partly because of his strict devo- “souls.” ELEMENTS OF THE tion to duty.” It’s a pity almost none of More specifically, as he squints into FILM DON’T HOLD that intriguing detail makes it on the the distant sea weighing how best to screen. thwart Nazi U-boats known as “the wolf- UP AS WELL. While it may not meet the level of pack,” he counsels himself with Matthew the best war films, Greyhound is a 10:16: Be wise as a serpent and innocent decent entry into the genre and a hope- ful sign of the direction Apple TV may be taking its brand.

24 WORLD 07.18.20 SONY PICTURES

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(2002):

(2007): $215 million $215

$368 million $368

(2012): The Bourne The Bourne Ultimatum million $227 Mission Impossible II (2000): in Powers Austin Goldmember million $213 (2013): Skyfall million $304 Despicable 2 Me WORLD 5 3 4

2 TOP-GROSSING SPY MOVIES 1 07.18.20 - - - by Marty VanDriel by (a tough-looking Dave Bautista) doesn’t do subtle. subtle. do doesn’t Bautista) Dave (a tough-looking isn’t quite a kid or adult movie adult a kid or quite isn’t LOTS OF ACTION, ACTION, OF LOTS ’s opening scene, he blows his mission by blowing up too up too blowing by his mission he blows scene, opening ’s LITTLE RESTRAINT My Spy JJ’s boss gives him one more chance with a new mission: Surveil Surveil mission: a new chance with him one more gives boss JJ’s Kris actor character by played (hilariously and partner Bobbi JJ how learns Sophie surprises: many too without unfolds The plot and predict contrived Although having and smiling people see just “I the about wonder may Viewers My Spy CIA OPERATIVE JJ JJ OPERATIVE CIA intended audience of the poorly the poorly of audience intended and much violence too film: reviewed but youngsters, for language coarse adults. for enough sophisticated not F-bombs avoid to careful are Producers when no filter but have in a PG-13 movie name in vain. God’s using comes to it pass. to want may Viewers In but JJ comical and artsy, is somewhat The violence people. many Prime). on Amazon a PG-13 film (available killing for of a lot does brother-in- Kate’s Sophie. daughter and her 9-year-old Kate widow no good. up to dude is a bad Victor law young until boring assignment, a routine, on Schaal) embark ten them. busts Coleman) (Chloe Sophie her with helps JJ and acts. thinks a spy faces. a dad a kid without the challenges and genu is enjoyable the movie able, In an idyllic times. at funny inely he what JJ asks Sophie scene, skating Min him: “Ninety civilians. sees around No cover.” perimeter. Soft imal security. she responds. fun,”

EMERGING MARKET Media analyst group MoffetNathanson predicts U.S. spending for streaming services to be $38 billion by 2024, up from 2019’s $16 billion. - - - - - is

tussles The Last Tree Last The by Sharon Dierberger Sharon by with tough issues The Last Tree The Both moms are described as Chris Both moms are In the next scene, his birth mom his birth scene, mom In the next The film centers on three chapters of chapters on three The film centers Still, despite its family themes,Still, despite com its family THE LAST TREE: PICTUREHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT; MY SPY: MWM STUDIOS MWM SPY: MY ENTERTAINMENT; PICTUREHOUSE TREE: LAST THE and streamed through a number of virtualnumber of a through streamed and cinemas. A pastor is a louse. F-bombs fly occasion F-bombs A pastor is a louse. marijuana. smoke characters Several ally. The independent film can be purchased to finally sob. Healing begins. to finally sob. tians, although one admonishes harshly. life-defining choices. A compassionate life-defining himself in Femi teacher who recognizes in a turning-point moment to intervenes him allowing anger, the teen’s hug away where his troubles begin, including racial his troubles where watch We blacks. other between tensions and with relationships him grapple “She’s not coming to take you away.” you not coming to take “She’s London him to dreary to take returns spends his carefree childhood in the childhood in the spends his carefree white loving, the Mary, with countryside promises: She adores. mom he foster cultures. in Lincolnshire life a Nigerian boy’s and Lagos. Femi (England), London, ready for an unvarnished, revealing jour revealing an unvarnished, for ready child strug of a foster into the world ney torn between gling to find his identity, pelling cinematography, evocative score, score, evocative pelling cinematography, acting, impressive and seeing if you’re worth kids. It’s not for bellowing each other, oblivious of skin oblivious of skin each other, bellowing color. Ah, the freedom of childhood: 11-year-old of childhood: 11-year-old Ah, the freedom out- in mud, wrestling, playing boys ------

MARTIN KEMP MARTIN , “I’m not “I’m , In the Footsteps Footsteps In the The Telegraph , this film is a mainstream BBC mainstream a is film this , Some Christians may take issue with with issue take may Some Christians Even more impressive are the the are impressive more Even find will likely Longtime believers Like its predecessor, predecessor, its Like a few moments, as when Suchet asserts Suchet asserts when as moments, a few were mountains the Cappadocian that over But 10 million years. over formed in guide an amiable such all, he makes on the to shed light effort a good-faith young-earth even life, Peter’s Apostle taking the regret to likely aren’t viewers is him. The documentary with journey Prime. on Amazon streaming experts he consults. None actively actively None he consults. experts in sim as narratives Biblical undermine King’s like few, A ilar documentaries. Joan professor history London College Taylor it. bolster subtly even Taylor, Christian believe she doesn’t explains without been possible have would ity the Messiah that know “We miracles: things extraordinary do to expected was Sea one particular Dead of because of among the works that says It Scroll. heal the blind, would [He] the Messiah, down, bowed were who up those raise the good and preach the dead, raise proving this, doing was So Jesus news. expected was that power the had He that the Messiah.” of than engaging more the second episode partic well-worn the leaves It the first. in the New described life, Peter’s of ulars cautious into and moves Testament, he and when where like speculation, new to in Turkey traveled have might churches. all part of the charm. We not only hear hear only not We the charm. of all part signif the theological on experts from life, Peter’s of certain details icance of delight childlike Suchet’s experience we Galilean fishermen with nets casting at what to similar boat a examining and used. have would the disciples Paul St. of As proselytize. doesn’t so it production, in wrote Suchet trying to just I’m evangelise. trying to extraor the most one of people bring to faith his Yet lived.” ever dinarythat men Mount When he visits shines through: he that tones awed in he muses Tabor, where on the ground could be standing exclaims he Later transfigured. was Jesus debates Jewish scholarly different how he studies Bible the kinds of from are attends.

DAVID SUCHET ON HIS FAITH: “Christianity is the most extraordinary lens through which to have a worldview.” - - -

In the Footsteps of St. St. of Footsteps the In as a sort of Christian Rick Christian a sort of as by Megan Basham Megan by In the Footsteps of St. Peter St. of Footsteps the In 07.18.20 JOURNEY , he guides us cheerily along the highways of the the of the highways along cheerily us , he guides is a hidden streamingis a hidden gem A DELIGHTFUL A DELIGHTFUL WORLD Suchet is best known for playing Agatha Christie’s Christie’s Agatha playing for known Suchet is best It’s a lot more fun than your average take-your-med average fun than your more a lot It’s HINK OF ACTOR DAVID SUCHET SUCHET DAVID ACTOR OF HINK icine educational documentary (and a lot more likely to to likely more (and a lot documentary icine educational tickets). plane book to an urge with you leave ham resist So he can’t Poirot. Hercule Belgian detective that’s and then. But now thespian style up in high ming it and heads down intriguing byways, based more on tra more based byways, intriguing down and heads and now stop he may the way, Along and theory. dition in sold fried tilapia like delicacy, a local sample then to lovely a admire to or fish,” “Peter’s Galilean as ports fresco. 11th-century Steves. With his 2015 documentary documentary 2015 his With Steves. Peter Testament the New of points major hits He life. apostle’s Movies & TV & Movies

David Suchet’s Suchet’s David

26 T CULTURE BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD: “The vast majority of fathers are incredibly involved, present and committed. That needs to be acknowledged.”

But Dads avoids all talk of God and religion, champions un-Biblical rela- TOP 10 tionships, and delivers a puzzling volume of expletives. Churches won’t be (WATCHED) using this documentary as a teaching tool anytime soon, but neither will AT HOME Planned Parenthood be looping Dads on TVs in its waiting rooms.

WEEK ENDING JUNE 25, ACCORDING TO Besides her father, Howard mainly DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP. CAUTIONS: interviews comedy-minded celebrities: QUANTITY OF SEXUAL (S), VIOLENT (V), AND FOUL-LANGUAGE (L) CONTENT Conan O’Brien, Will Smith, Jimmy Kim- ON A 0-10 SCALE, WITH 10 HIGH, mel, and others. Smith finds incredulous FROM KIDS-IN-MIND.COM having a “thousand-page manual” for

S V L his television while being “sent home [from the hospital] with a baby—and 1 The Invisible Man R . . 1 7 5 nothing!” 2 Sonic the Hedgehog PG . . . . 1 3 2 Dads also drops in on noncelebrity fathers around the world doing their 3 Jumanji: The Next Level PG-13 . . . . . 2 5 4 thing. These dads steal the show. A

4 Yellowstone: fed-up father in Japan wordlessly takes Season 1 TV-MA . . . not rated a sledgehammer to his son’s video game 5 Birds of Prey: And the console as the tall, bleached-blond teen Fantabulous Emancipation of shrieks in horror. One Harley Quinn R . .4 8 10 Robert Selby of Virginia bitterly 6 The Hunt R...... 1 8 10 regrets the anger he initially felt at his 7 Bad Boys for Life R . .3 8 9 girlfriend’s pregnancy. But recounting 8 1917 R...... 1 8 6 the birth of his son, who immediately

9 Bloodshot PG-13 . . . 5 6 5 underwent a heart procedure, Selby 10 Yellowstone: says, “I knew forever I’d be his protec- Season 2 TV-MA. . . not rated IMPERFECT tor.” When little RJ wraps his arms *REVIEWED BY WORLD around his dad’s neck and tells him, “I PICTURES love you with all my fixed heart,” I had to pause the film until I composed Amid serious flaws, myself. Yet Selby and his girlfriend dis- Dads extols the wonders miss marriage: “We decided you don’t of fatherhood have to be married to be great parents.” Two gay white partners live on a by Bob Brown farm with their four adopted African American children, one of whom still suffers the effects of fetal alcohol syn- TOP 10 FOCUS AT THEIR FINEST, DADS PROVIDE, pro- drome. These big-hearted dads bear the tect, play, and model pious behavior. image of the Father, but will they ever 1917 is as much about the sto- And then there are those moments when teach their children about Him? ries we tell about war as about even the best fathers prove they’re Warm parenting anecdotes from Ron a particular conflict in a par- oh-so-fallen. Howard and Kimmel stand in contrast ticular moment. In what looks The same goes for Dads, a new doc- to their myopic abortion advocacy. Last like a single camera take, we umentary directed by Bryce Dallas How- year, Kimmel mocked pro-lifers, and follow Lance Cpls. Blake and ard, daughter of one of Hollywood’s Howard said he’d boycott Georgia if the Schofield, two young men— favorite sons, director Ron Howard. state’s heartbeat law went into effect. boys really—entrusted to Dads delights in the joys and challenges Apparently, they can’t see beyond their carry a vital message across of fatherhood, and addresses a man’s own dining room tables how abortion enemy-occupied territory. responsibility to mother and child. It’s destroys other men’s children and an unexpected—almost radical—state- opportunities to experience father- ment from Hollywood. hood—biological or adoptive.

1917: DREAMWORKS; DADS: APPLE TV+ 07.18.20 WORLD 27 CULTURE Books character-formers may suffice. Those called to be pastors desperately need the fruit of the Spirit: Bookmarks Aaron Menikoff points out in Character Quests Matters (Moody, 2020) that “the pastor who feels the need to for integrity power his church to New books look into the greatness through the importance of character exercise of his own gifts underestimates the power of the by Marvin Olasky gospel.” Having character means putting up with sticks and stones and also words DAN CRENSHAW SPENT a decade as a that can hurt. Russell Jacoby’s On Diver- Navy SEAL and lost a right eye in sity (Seven Stories Press, 2020) empha- Afghanistan. He sizes diversity of ideas but notes that Baseball fundamentalists gained national celeb- “diversity” has become a battering ram believe Genesis starts with rity in 2018 when a against free speech. “In the Big Inning,” so we still Saturday Night Live Jacoby quotes the hope to celebrate the return comedian made light contention of Berke- (re-creation?) of major league of his sacrifice and ley professor Nancy baseball this year. Two new Crenshaw showed Scheper-Hughes that books can help armchair ana- character by grace- “the First Amend- lysts. Keith Law’s The Inside fully responding. Now ment deserves to be Game (William Morrow, he’s a member of Congress with a new re-looked at” because 2020) uses behavioral analy- book out—Fortitude: American Resil- “medical anthropolo- sis to explain why managers ience in the Era of Outrage (Twelve, gists, clinical psychologists, and neuro- mistakenly leave in pitchers 2020)—that is far above the typical logical scientists” have learned that free too long, fallaciously rely on self-serving book by a rising politician. speech “can harm the central nervous “the hot hand,” keep declin- Crenshaw thoughtfully criticizes system.” Maybe that’s true, but not having players with fat contracts those on the right and left who read a ing free speech definitely harms our in the lineup because they’re social media post and jump to conclu- brains. For example, “diversity” to col- “sunk costs,” and so on. sions. He wonders why many people lege students means race and ethnicity, The second book, Anthony want to be seen as “oppressed” rather or various kinds of sexual dysphoria— Castrovince’s A Fan’s Guide than pressing onward against obstacles. not diversity of ideas and beliefs. to Baseball Analytics (Sports He emphasizes the importance of a sense Concern about conformity trumping Publishing, 2020) is for those of duty and offers a checklist for mea- character has been around for a long puzzled by the new statistical suring ourselves: “You have a duty to time—Alexis de measures baseball analysts accomplish something every day … to Tocqueville worried throw around. I agree that overcome your hardships and not wal- about it in the 1830s— the old ones—BA, RBI, W-L— low in self-pity … to contribute, even if but technology now are less informative than OPS your contribution is small.” gives activists the (on-base plus slugging) and Crenshaw describes the arduous ability to attack WHIP (walks + hits per inning process for becoming a SEAL and shows diverse thoughts pitched), but life is too short how others who fail much easier tests instantly. Owen Stra- to figure out wRC (weighted blame others and, instead of seeing how chan in Reenchant- runs created). they can change, ask, “Which politician ing Humanity: A Theology of Mankind Alex Speier’s Home- is going to fix it for me?” His American (Mentor, 2019) describes our need to grown: How the Red Sox history is accurate: Crenshaw goes back understand that humans are made in Built a Champion From the to Woodrow Wilson’s progressivism and God’s image, yet those “believing and Ground Up (HarperCollins, sees his epigones not as evil but as push- living according to the reasonable wis- 2019) shows how the Boston ers of an ideology that is “unsustainable, dom of the Word of God” face scorn. Red Sox ascended to a World inherently anti-liberty, and naïve in its What to do? Strachan notes, “The Series win in 2018. utopian pursuit.” church that trusts and obeys the Bible For those not at the SEAL level, other is doing just what it should do.”

28 WORLD 07.18.20 Miss Julia Knows a Thing or Two by Ann B. Ross: In this 22nd book in a Journeys far and near long-running series, Miss Julia has turned Four novels, old and new over a new leaf. She vows no longer to be a busybody, but circumstances make that by Susan Olasky pledge hard to keep. For one thing, her starchy next-door neighbor and good friend has learned she has a grandchild. For another, her plans to help a friend buy a business and gain economic security seem likely to go awry. Miss Julia’s husband is a good foil, tempering some of her enthusiasms. He loves and admires her despite her faults. Christians will appreciate Ross’ depiction of Miss Julia, a Chris- tian with many faults who is also quick to acknowledge them.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger: When their father dies during the Great Depression, two Irish American siblings end up at a boarding school for Native children. Although some of the teachers care about the kids, the school’s leaders condone and participate in abuse. Four children run away in search of identity and a home. Their journey takes them down the Mississippi River, where they meet bandits and faith healers, keeping one step ahead of the school officials who pursue them. Krueger tells a page-turning tale, rich in historical detail and many fan- tastic elements. The children encounter characters that reflect incredible human kindness and others who display the depths of human depravity.

One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross by Harry Kemelman: Harry Kem elman died in 1996, but his series of mys- tery novels lives on. Set in a Boston suburb, The Nesting Dolls by Alina Adams: The Nesting Dolls, out on July the novels feature Rabbi David Small, who 14, is a fascinating multigeneration tale that moves from Stalin-era oversees the only synagogue in town and Siberia to Brighton Beach, N.Y., in 2019. The story focuses on the manages to offend many in his congrega- women in a Russian Jewish family who face incredible obstacles just tion by his unwillingness to put up with to survive. Adams shows the horrors of Stalin’s Soviet Union and the silliness. Kemelman sets the action of this desperate choices some people made. The book ends with Zoya, a novel in Jerusalem, where Rabbi Small and young woman who grew up in the United States. She has a pri- his wife are spending the summer. Trouble vate-school education and privileges her parents and grandparents brews when he refuses to attend a bar could only dream of. She loves them and finds them embarrassing, mitzvah for a middle-aged man at the West- not much interested in their histories and how the past shaped them. ern Wall and seems to implicate a wayward Adams combines rich historical detail with an engrossing narrative. son in a crime. Kemelman’s novels are The book contains several obscenities directed at Stalin. politically dated, but they offer clean fun and insight into a Jewish worldview and congregational politics.

07.18.20 WORLD 29 CULTURE Children’s Books Afterword Lighthearted reads Picture books for summertime imaginations by Mary Jackson

The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan: All year long a quaint blue cottage on the bay sits unoccupied until a little girl and her family arrive in the summertime, filling the house with the smells of pancakes, bacon, and sunscreen. Watty Piper’s 1930 nursery Each year, the girl boats, fishes, flies kites, and shelters from classic The Little Engine summer storms inside the little cottage. From a cozy window That Could left an imprint nook, she always whispers, “I miss you when I am away.” But on generations of children. one summer the girl never arrives, and subsequent years of neglect render the The 90th anniversary edi- cottage “dimming to gray.” The story shows—with sensory detail and soft illustration of The Little Engine tions—that family traditions are often rediscovered and renewed. (Ages 4-8) That Could (Grosset & Dunlap, 2020) includes a foreword from Dolly Parton, The Hike by Alison Farrell: Three children hike to the whose philanthropic organi- top of a mountain, making discoveries along the way. Wren zation has provided millions meticulously documents their findings in a sketchbook of children with copies of while El writes poetry and Hattie uses the map to direct the book, and new illustra- the trio when they get lost. The pages include flora and tions by Dan Santat. fauna labels that showcase a vibrant ecosystem teeming Warm and clean, the with life. The girls observe, taste, tire, freeze, rest, and trek pictures tell the same home with a gorgeous sunset backdrop—all markings of a good hike. This book beloved story but without immerses readers in the woods and will likely encourage some budding outdoor some of the playful details enthusiasts. (Ages 3-9) from the 1954 edition illus- trated by George and Doris Hauman, including milk jugs The Camping Trip by Jennifer K. Mann: Ernestine experi- with legs and a motley crew ences her first weekend camping trip with her aunt and cousin. of toys and animals. Santat’s Despite her preparedness, some parts prove stretching. A toy characters are dwarfed rigorous hike is much different than her walk to school. Sleep- by the trains and lack the ing in a tent is uncomfortable—and she misses her dad. But same magic, but a deter- she also discovers banana slugs, scrumptious s’mores, and the mined blue engine still beauty of nature. Double-page spreads of the lake, trees, moun- shines. tains, and a vast, starry sky will inspire readers to start planning their next trip. Mann adds variety and texture with page layouts, line drawings, and speech bubbles. (Ages 3-7) In Chirri & Chirra: Under the Sea (Enchanted Lion, 2020), a mysterious cave Sandcastle by Einat Tsarfati: A little girl sets out to make a leads two girls on bicycles sandcastle amid a crowded beach (and an amusing myriad of into a fantastical world. sunbathers). Her castle turns out so elaborate that it attracts Peddling along with a “dring kings and queens from around the world. They are initially dring,” the bobbed, rosy- impressed, especially because ice cream is served “any kind, cheeked duo find coral any time.” Readers will be impressed, too: A cross-section view mazes, seashell sofas, and shows castle rooms with books, dinosaur bones, a sleeping an octopus waiter. An enjoy- dragon, and more. But troubles begin when the royal guests able installment in Kaya find sand in everything, and the castle erupts into a sandball fight.(Ages 4-7) Doi’s series.

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DR. ERIC MCLAUGHLIN is a family McLaughlins are focused on training medicine doctor at Kibuye Hope more Burundian medical specialists. EMILY BELZ Hospital in Burundi, where he has Eric’s book, Promises in the Dark: Walk- INTERVIEWS served with his wife Dr. Rachel ing With Those in Need Without Losing ERIC McLaughlin, an obstetrician, for the Heart, lays out Christian principles for last seven years. I spent several facing overwhelming need. In February MCLAUGHLIN weeks with them at their rural teach- robbers attacked and nearly killed fel- ing hospital, which in recent years low missionary George Watts, who has grown tremendously in patient works as a hospital administrator. volume. Rachel is constantly on call to perform C-sections. Eric Here are edited excerpts of my inter- faces regular malaria epidemics and treats a host of other inter- view with Eric. nal diseases, with little diagnostic testing available. Through Serge, an international missions organization, the Talk about 2020 in Burundi. It feels like the hardest period of time that we’ve known since we moved to Africa 10 years

32 WORLD 07.18.20 ILLUSTRATION BY MARK FREDRICKSON ago. It’s not just the isolation; it’s the Burundi, in terms of the amount of multiple things that have hit us. uncertainty. I don’t have everything I need to have. I’m making decisions I feel What happened to George Watts? On like I shouldn’t have to make. That is the Feb. 22 armed robbers came into our world of African medicine all the time. housing area and went straight to the Wattses’ house. They stabbed and stran- What comes next? This is a virus we gled George and tied up his family, look- PEOPLE REBEL didn’t know existed months ago: An ing for money. They didn’t find the big AGAINST incredible amount is unknown. How can haul they thought they were going to we see down the road, whether decision find and left. But they were just inches HELPLESSNESS, x or decision y is the right decision to away from taking his life. Members of AND THERE’S AN make? People rebel against helplessness, our team treated George. He needed IV EXTENT TO WHICH and there’s an extent to which that’s fluids. good. God has given us the tools to fight THAT’S GOOD. against something like this that causes How did your team react? Kibuye has felt disease and destruction. But our knowl- like a haven for us, so there is all the edge is so imperfect. violation that comes with that. Multiple members of our team were traumatized. What do you do with that imperfect I can’t remember a time where I’ve felt knowledge? I have known more help- so relieved and grateful and full of grief lessness in my medical work than almost all at the same time. Our home got vio- all other American healthcare providers. lated and our teammate is in bad phys- As a Christian physician who is often ical shape, and yet I’m so thankful he What advice do you have for people in helpless to do what I would like to do, I wasn’t killed, that the gun they brought the West feeling helpless amid this pan- have to trust that there is a bigger story with them didn’t go off. If x or y hap- demic? People always ask us about the about what is going on, that we’re not pened, things could have spun out of coronavirus and being in a limited-re- alone in this fight, that God is present control. But what a ridiculous thing to source setting. The good news is we’re in His love and He’s for us. And that we say: out of control. Was the Lord in con- not overwhelmed by being overwhelmed. are not the end of the line when it comes trol of the situation or not? It happened We’ve lived through multiple malaria to taking care of this world, or taking one way; it didn’t happen the other way. epidemics already. The world as a whole care of the person in front of us. Work feels like it has entered into my world in as if it all depends on God. What’s happened since then? A razor wire fence surrounds our wall now. After the attack the governor of our province, the police and military commanders in our region, everyone, came to Kibuye: a great show of support. But it remains to be seen what the harvest is going to look like in Burundi this year.

How do you face all these difficulties? Psalm 77 stood out to me in some times of prayer surrounding the robbery. It’s a classic psalm of lament. It says, “When I meditate, I groan,” instead of “I find peace.” It talks about not being able to sleep, not having appetite. It says, “I’m going to look back and see what God has done in the past.” The psalmist points to the crossing of the Red Sea, and paints a picture of lightning and thunder and terrifying circumstances. And then at the end of it, it says, “Your way was through the water, your path through the sea, but your footprints were unseen.”

EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @emlybelz 07.18.20 WORLD 33

------Spinning Spinning The Globe ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP D. ROSS is a fitting souve is a fitting dynamic Brill Build dynamic Neil Sedakaing duo Green and Howard suppliers field. The remaining the of R&B the were four Clark Rudy veterans , which documents the team’s the team’s documents , which gets reissued. And although the although And reissued. gets Most of all, though, the book docu the book all, though, of Most The Globetrotters The album didn’t sell, although one sell, although The album didn’t however, in a while, Once in Ben can be found The details Was the music bubblegum? Soul? Soul? bubblegum? the music Was Yes. (joined Bailey and Williams, Clark, segregation-era origins, its internal and internal its origins, segregation-era highs, exhilarating its conflicts, external lows. heartbreaking and its the players that ways the myriad ments wherever animosity racial defused have being almost by simply gone, they’ve be true. to good too nir. the impression that it was the Globe was it that impression the making were who themselves trotters (Lemon participated noise. joyful such background audible a barely as but only singer.) the Sedaka-Greenfield- singles, its of on to gone has Bells,” Day penned “Rainy “beach Carolina the of staple a become scene. music” trotters dig just-released, somewhat-expanded, cur edition 50th-anniversary ital-only the is really on Amazon listed rently digital-only same somewhat-expanded on iTunes been available has that edition semicentennial the album’s since 2014, for if only marking worth is an occasion regarding anything that the same reason They a salute: deserves the Globetrotters forces the greatest one of and are, were, the USA. from emerge to ever good for readable eminently Green’s Globe the and Kenny Williams, a team that three three that a team Williams, and Kenny J.R. the Cadillacs’ with along later, years nomina a Grammy earn would Bailey, the Main Ingredient’s composing tion for the Fool.” Plays “Everybody Comedy? roll? ’n’ Rock Doo-wop? Turner Sammy singers the session by the also provided Spencer) and Robert nor the musi they neither But vocals. bare- the credits, the in appeared cians create to served which of boned nature

HOOPS AMBASSADORS More than 148 million people in 124 countries and territories have watched the Globetrotters play since 1926. - - - CURLY NEAL CURLY The Globetrot , a CBS Satur CBS a , ’ were at the peak at were should’ve been a hit. should’ve

. . Scooby-Doo Harlem Globetrotters Harlem The Globetrotters The Globetrotters 07.18.20 also had more musical muscle. A lot more. A lot muscle. musical more also had WORLD Three of the songs were written by Ron Dante (the (the Dante Ron by written were songs the of Three Each episode’s climactic montage was accompanied accompanied was montage climactic episode’s Each Kirshner’s Don on the pop-music-mogul Released Perhaps the most striking proof of their stature as as their stature of proof striking the most Perhaps N 1970, THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS HARLEM THE 1970, N Not only had its way been paved by the success of Kirsh of success the by paved been way its had only Not but band, the Archies, cartoon other ner’s ters the by written Six were singer). lead real-life Archies’ teries and crimes à la teries album a soundtrack song came from And each a song. by called simply Records, Kirshner and Marques Haynes, the roundball wizards played to to played wizards the roundball Haynes, and Marques and laughter spreading fans, ecstatic full of stadiums could. they only as goodwill was entertainers the of versions animated in which cartoon day-morning mys solving while opponents hapless defeated players of their popularity. Between the unit led by Meadowlark Meadowlark by led the unit Between their popularity. of Geese by led Ausbie Neal and the unit Lemon and Curly Music

34 to a great American force for good for American a great force to Orteza Arsenio by magic Anniversary tribute album pays

CULTURE Globetrotters The I the British Invasion and that there’s Encore something to be gained from sifting Influences through what got left behind. “Till I Hear It From You” might borrow its time and signature from the Dave Brubeck Quar- tet’s “Take Five,” but where it goes from impressions there it goes on its own. Noteworthy new or Lay It On Me by Nick Lowe: Lowe’s recent releases latest EP with Los Straitjackets is also by Arsenio Orteza his slightest—three songs lasting only nine minutes, one of With his latest album, them a cover (the Hermitage (Cooking John Zorn: Virtue by Bill Frisell, Brenda Lee B-side Vinyl), the Canadian Julian Lage, Gyan Riley: John Zorn’s “Here Comes That singer-songwriter Ron latest guitar-trio compositions were Feeling”). But add Sexsmith adds 14 more inspired by Julian of Norwich, the medi- those to the four apiece on Tokyo Bay McCartney-esque melo- eval Christian mystic and anchoress of (2018) and Love Starvation (2019) and dies—each with carefully whom A.W. Tozer once wrote, “Long you have 11. So consider Lay It On Me wrought, form-fitting before Reformation the final installment in Lowe’s first lyrics—to his already times she was, in pop-rocking album since The Quality impressive oeuvre. As one spirit, an evangeli- Holiday Revue (also with Los Straitjack- might expect, the reviews, cal.” As was the case ets) and marvel at how effortless Lowe which began appearing in with Frisell, Lage, still makes the writing and the choosing April, have been glowing. and Riley’s prior of “pure pop for now people” (or “then So why was the release Zorn recording, people” as the case may be) seem. As to postponed until mid- Nove Cantici Per Francesco D’Assisi, the the meaning behind the northern pike June? Presumably, to connection between their spiraling and the G.M. Skinner fishing lure on the leapfrog the COVID-19 interplay and Zorn’s source material cover, think “hooks.” And getting caught. lockdowns. Instead, Her- resides mainly in the titles. Would any- mitage goes on sale in the one infer from the Satie-like second cut aftermath of the George something as specific as separation for Magdalen Accepts the Invitation by Floyd conflagrations. So Christ’s sake if it weren’t titled “Apart Mark Olson & Ingunn Ringvold: The much for outguessing From the World”? Probably not. But it melodies, the husband-wife vocals, and life’s vicissitudes. is titled “Apart From the World.” And, the delicate, psychedelic-’60s instru- Yet there is one song inclining as they do more to active than mentation add up to that explores the current to passive listening, Zorn’s audience will a “chamber folk” unrest, and it does so with eventually put two and two together. that the lyrics, a scalpel rather than a which deal mainly in bludgeon. It’s called “Dig impressions, keep Nation,” and it goes like Nick of Time by the James Hunter Six: fresh long after the this: “In Dig Nation, you Even if you think that his commitment hooks have sunk in. will never be befriended, / to late-’50s/early-’60s R&B makes James Phrases seem to connect with each other not by the humorless or Hunter a nostalgia act, you have to in new combinations every time that easily offended. / It all admit that he’s they come around. They don’t, of course, depends on the self- really good at what but the illusion is real enough to lend righteous in Dig Nation.” he does. Not only the trick an air of magic. Conceptual And if you think that stan- does he sing and open-endedness definitely plays a role: za’s spot on, try this one: arrange like some- What if anything, for instance, does the “In Dig Nation, how they one intent on giving song “Silent Mary” or the reference to mean to divide us. / Sam Cooke and Ben the “fisherman of men” in “You’ll Find Without forgiveness, they E. King a run for their money, but he the Morning” have to do with the Mag- never will unite us. / writes his own songs too, songs that dalen or the invitation of the album There’s no love in sight, / imply that pop culture moved on too title? Expect at least a slightly different only self-righteous fast when it abandoned their kind for answer every time you ask. indignation.”

07.18.20 WORLD 35 CULTURE Music against the political divide: “We talking and talking, but still we missin’ / It’s shocking how awful Encore we never stop and listen.” With full- A little of throated expression of patriotism and faith, this South- everything ern-fried fusion will prove comfort food to many. But amid so much weaving together the love of country and love of God, it’s hard to tell where one leaves off and the other picks up. The Porter’s Gate sounds a bit like All Sons & Daughters Citizen of Heaven by Tauren Wells: if you throw in a few more Wells’ dance-worthy pop prowess and sons and daughters. That slick vocal stylings already beg compar- makes sense: The group is a isons to Michael Jackson. Melodious collective that includes Leslie Christian releases from whoops in the title Jordan (from All Sons & earlier this year bend track only bolster Daughters) and familiar genre boundaries the comparison as names like Audrey Assad and Wells marvels, “You Josh Garrels. by Jeff Koch grow the lilies with As expected, the tracks Your majesty / and on Neighbor Songs are You don’t even love diverse—Assad brings her ’em like You love me.” But on “Miracle,” usual spare and soaring Coby James by Coby James: With John with its arrestingly tight beat, ambient beauty and Garrels his relent- Mayer–level talent and similarly infec- keys, and R&B fills, Wells goes full Jack- lessly groovy crooning—but tious bluesy pop- son-esque. Unlike Jackson, however, all feature carefully crafted rock, the buzz Wells contrasts a secularism that leaves artistry that stimulates the around Coby James “all these conversations filled with mind and pleases the senses. makes sense. The doubt” with faith that “no one can deny The goal was a “renewal kid himself (he was / what I’ve seen with my own eyes.” of worship,” according to the only 17 when the group’s website. To facilitate album released) that, they gathered theolo- even admits, “I’ve got finesse,” when Supernatural by Paradise Now: While gians and songwriters to facing his haters in “No Trouble.” Toot- others chase hip-hop and club vibes, explore God’s call to love ing your own horn is an incomplete Paradise Now stands against the musical your neighbor: “uplifting and answer to bullying, but “Pressure” current by offering unabashed hard rock lamenting with women in the shows the singer and multi-instrumen- in the vein of Skillet. Also like Skillet, Church who have been talist ascribing the source of his strength the Wales-based outfit incorporates silenced or abused … loving more clearly to God, amid sticky spiritual themes in a general way that the least of these as we love rhythms and a great hook. In “Paradise,” can resonate with a wider audience. The ourselves and Jesus … and finding satisfaction outside of God is title track blasts off welcoming others of differ- like “a thousand miles chasing / but it’s with propulsive ence rather than fearing always outta reach.” drumming and the them.” While the songs observation that, include various ecumenical despite internal and and social justice threads, Backroads & Small Towns by Who- external forces the musical and lyrical qual- soever South: Whosoever South returns fighting against ity suits the overall message with an electrifying combination of hip- faith, the supernatural finds a way into of a return to humility and a hop and country that band members the world. “Young Guns” includes faith that expresses itself dubbed “Country Crunk.” The rousing moments of machine-gun rhythms and through demonstrative love. “We All One People” features searing lyrics that effectively express the inten- banjo licks and explosive rap that rail sity and upheaval of youth.

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pacemaker implant behind the Iron Curtain in 1962. Trust me, you have stories on your street, too. Sometimes we got too busy, and after one dry spell, my neighbor next door, out of work, proposed making dinner for us every Monday night, simple meal, and for one hour. No obligation to come, and no contribution necessary. First lesson: Make an offer too good to pass up. That began a tradition from which we continue to Monday meals reap rewards, deepened relationships that continue in this pandemic season when we no longer enter one with neighbors another’s homes. Monday nights became time for beans and rice, A summer tradition isn’t cornbread, and salad. On Monday mornings at my desk completely out of reach I began to dream Pavlovian-style of this meal. Someone might arrive with a cut-up cantaloupe, a pie, or a bot- tle of wine. All of us might show up with nothing, and F YOU THINK ABOUT IT, everything comes down it was OK. The real beauty was coming together, enjoy- to a meal. ing the grace of giving or receiving without payback. Eve in the Garden must’ve been looking Sometimes work or travel intervened. Sometimes for something to eat. The Passover Seder meal the 10-year-old ate and ran for homework. We wel- became the linchpin for Old Testament Jews. comed whatever time we had, knowing we’d return The hoped-for Messiah took bread and gave to keep the conversation going. thanks with His disciples before beginning True, I sometimes heard things that rocked my I His journey to the cross. After, He cooked sensibilities and hurt my soul. But by building shared them fish to launch a new kind of journey. experiences around the table, we Democrats and Home cooking during our time of coronavirus has Republicans, Christians, Jews, Unitarians, and Nones enjoyed a renaissance. Social gatherings remain grew to care for one another. fraught with uncertainty and risk, but meals remain Once, our Jewish neighbor lit candles at the start essential and summer evenings long. Look to the guide- of Hanukkah, explaining the menorah. That led to lines in your state and locality, then find ways to feast. stories of the couple’s grandparents, all Holocaust With summer come options to extend the table in survivors. your backyard, down a quiet street, or at a nearby At another dinner after I had returned from the park. Our backyard has acquired a socially acceptable Middle East, a neighbor plunked an oversized world (distanced) dining space, sheltered by a tent for sudden atlas in the middle of the table and commanded, “Tell showers. Buy several inexpensive folding tables and us everything you saw.” Everyone asked insightful push them together to make extra space. Throw several questions about the Christian communities I’d visited. tablecloths over them, sit far apart, but together. The disciples formed an intimate band from diverse Neighbor meals have a great history on my street. backgrounds who had to overcome differences in ser- Many of us have lived side by side for forever. Years vice to a bigger cause. Matthew the tax collector was ago we began gathering every couple of months, four perhaps pro-Rome and the fishermen Never Caesars. families ranging in age from young parents in their It’s wonderful to have intimate gatherings of fellow 30s to grandparents approaching 90. We grilled, ate believers, but it can be life-giving also to see what by a fire, or at a dining room table, whatever worked. happens when we love our neighbors. The Christian, We did neighborhood gossip. We exchanged news of wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “belongs not in the seclusion faraway children. We got tense over politics and reli- of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes.” gion. We heard unforgettable stories. One neighbor Epilogue: For a year now our Monday night host has took a canoe with a friend all the way down the Mis- battled pancreatic cancer, and our weekly dinners are sissippi when she was 18. Another performed the first on an extended pause. Our relationships, buoyed by that regular time together, are helping us navigate personal and national crises with compassion and purpose.

38 WORLD 07.18.20 EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @mcbelz

LISTENING TO THE UNHEARD The news cycle is loud, but we need to hear those who can’t shout | by Michael Reneau

A BILL THAT REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS barter for in the U.S. Capitol will always have a limited reach in local police departments: Mayors and state governments have far more influence on police procedure. But when representatives and senators in Washington, D.C., deadlocked on police reform in late June, legislators communicated one thing to the majority of Americans who want change: They’re not listening. ¶ On June 24, Senate Dem- ocrats blocked the body from debating Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s reform bill on the Sen- ate floor. Scott said Republicans, who control the Senate, would have entertained amendments to the bill, but Democrats refused to interact. The next day, the House of Representatives passed the Democrats’ more aggressive reform bill along party lines and asked Republicans to debate it in Senate committees. Republican senators called the bill a nonstarter and indicated they may not take it up in committee. ¶ Most Americans agree that the May 25 death of handcuffed George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer was unjust. Pol- iticians in both parties cried for change. But Republicans and Democrats didn’t meet to forge consensus. They raced to write their own bills (that still ended up agreeing on at least four policy points). It’s as if Republicans and Democrats were speaking two different languages. So Americans who want leaders to work side by side for reform go unheard.

40 WORLD 07.18.20 LISTENING TO THE UNHEARD The news cycle is loud, but we need to hear those who can’t shout | by Michael Reneau

Much of WORLD’s coverage focuses on the unheard analyzing data for a Caleb Team investigative report. and other “uns”: the unborn, the uncared-for, the Other than the unborn, China’s Uighur population unemployed, the unappreciated. This issue of WORLD may be the most vulnerable group of “uns” in the especially emphasizes that. Mindy Belz takes us an world right now. President Donald Trump’s tiff with ocean away from Washington, to Belgium. There, many former national security adviser John Bolton has of the unheard living in nursing homes died of COVID- brought new attention to the Uighurs’ plight. But long 19 in part because of the failure of leaders who literally before Bolton accused Trump of supporting China’s speak two different languages: French and Dutch. “The creation of concentration camps, June Cheng was main problem we have had is with politicians who interviewing Uighurs whose family members in China chose to sacrifice nursing home residents for this cri- had disappeared. They hope the world hears them. sis,” one researcher said. On March 12, 1990, weeks before Congress passed Belgium was not alone: In New York, Michigan, and and President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans other U.S. states, leaders similarly decided to make With Disabilities Act (ADA), more than 1,000 people nursing home residents with COVID-19 stay in their with disabilities threw off crutches, climbed out of facilities, and sometimes moved in others. The virus wheelchairs, and crawled up the steps of the Capitol spread, and so did death. Building in Washington: They didn’t want to go As COVID-19 forced shutdowns and shut in millions, unheard. The ADA isn’t perfect legislation, but as Kim a mostly unconsidered group of people waited for Henderson notes in this issue, it helped another group lifesaving treatments: those who need new organs to of “uns.” And it showed Americans can work together, live. Daniel James Devine and Charissa Koh spent weeks despite our differences.

EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @MichaelReneau 07.18.20 WORLD 41 HOUSES OF DEATH Small Belgium has the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the world, raising questions about restrictive protocols surrounding nursing homes by Mindy Belz

42 WORLD 07.18.20 A NURSE ARRIVES TO TEST A RESIDENT OF THE ELDERLY RESIDENCE CHRISTALAIN ON APRIL 17 IN BRUSSELS DURING A STRICT LOCKDOWN TO PREVENT SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS.

PHOTO BY KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/ AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES When COVID-19 hit the Westervier nursing home— a residential care center in the Belgian city of Bruges—it struck with swift severity.

“We had residents talking in the liv- with more than 9,600 deaths—for a ing room in the morning. Then they chart-topping mortality rate of 85 became short of breath. Then drowsy. deaths per 100,000 persons, according And in the evening they were gone. It to Johns Hopkins University. That con- went very fast,” said Dirk Snauwaert, trasts with a mortality rate in the United director of Westervier. Kingdom (which leads Europe in total Snauwaert’s facility saw 25 deaths in cases) of 64 per 100,000 and with a U.S. the first two weeks of April. By June, 38 mortality rate of 37 per 100,000. Bel- of his 118 residents had died of COVID- gium’s reported caseload has tracked 19, or about a third of the facility’s pop- Michigan’s—its number of deaths is extraordinary challenges with inade- ulation. Workers carted the deceased’s nearly 4,000 higher. quate preparation. Protective gear went belongings—artwork, books, leather The numbers are bad enough that to hospitals, including some confiscated chairs, and boxes of knickknacks—to an eight European countries did not recip- from nursing homes. After the H1N1 flu underground garage where they sat in rocate when Belgium reopened its bor- epidemic passed, Health Minister Mag- empty parking spaces once reserved for ders to Europe. A further 12 required gie De Block had ordered in 2017 the visitors. Belgians to quarantine before visiting. nation’s stockpile of surgical masks Already health officials had placed The restrictions came as a stunning destroyed, leaving a critical shortage. Belgium’s nursing homes on lockdown, rebuke for Belgians who’ve endured a “It was war. I had to send my people prohibiting visitors, including family, strict lockdown since March and have to the front. But we had no bullets,” said hoping to stop the spread. But indoors prided themselves for a transparent Snauwaert. the virus spread rapidly, brought in ini- accounting of deaths, including sus- As COVID-19 cases began to spike in tially, many believe, through caregivers pected cases of COVID-19. March, nursing homes received no tests. or visitors returning from skiing vaca- Any reckoning leads to the nation’s Masks were available only by prescriptions in Italy. nursing homes, where at least 53 per- tion. Caregivers rewashed protective Belgium, long known as the country cent—and in some areas perhaps 65 gowns meant for one-time use, or simply through which all of Europe’s wars percent—of COVID-19 deaths occur. An didn’t use them. march, has played an outsize role in the average 42 percent of U.S. deaths are From the beginning, top government continent’s battle with the coronavirus. taking place in nursing homes. officials and the Belgian Society for Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom As in the United States, Belgian nurs- Geriatrics and Gerontology recom- gained attention for their extensive out- ing homes come in all sizes and combine mended against hospitalizing those from breaks; Belgium—with land mass roughly private rooms with communal living nursing homes, including for other con- equivalent to Maryland but twice that spaces where the elderly often live as ditions. They feared ICU beds would run state’s population—has held the world’s family. Some are state supported, others out, though Belgium never exceeded 60 highest recorded mortality rate. commercial ventures or nonprofits. percent of its intensive-care capacity. Confirmed coronavirus cases in Bel- Many are run by Catholic charities. Lacking the trained staff or equipment gium surpassed 60,000 in mid-June, From the start, nursing homes faced (like ventilators) to treat severe respi-

44 WORLD 07.18.20 FUNERAL HOME EMPLOYEES CLOSE A COFFIN CONTAINING THE BODY OF A COVID-19 VICTIM AT A MORGUE IN NAMUR, BELGIUM.

Belgians have been living under a caretaker government for more than a year. Unable to form a governing coali- tion, the parliamentary system has been at a standstill, the Dutch-speaking north and French-speaking south more divided than usual. Competing health ministry officials and overlapping federal and regional governments all add up to a mismanaged response to the coronavirus crisis. “Officials considered that those who get COVID-19—or anything else during the crisis, including a heart attack—are not a priority for hospital care. They are not admitted,” said Vanbellingen. “A lot have died alone in nursing homes not necessarily because it made no sense to admit them, but because experts chose that it would be necessary not to admit them.” The institute found some hospitals refusing to admit all advanced-age patients, but particularly those living in ratory distress, some nursing homes nursing or retirement homes. One nurs- How Belgians count were left without options but to watch ing home, featured on national televi- their residents die. sion news, became so overwhelmed that Some European countries are just Snauwaert told investigators with doctors sent to help found feces in the beginning to count their nursing the Dutch-language newspaper De Stan- hallway and dehydrated residents drink- home residents who have died due daard that nursing homes in Belgium ing from dirty cups. to COVID-19. Belgium early on have been “step-mothered” for years. De Standaard newspaper launched counted not only confirmed but “Our government has forgotten elderly its investigation after registering the suspected COVID-19 deaths. For a people,” he said when I reached him by scale of what happened, said Ruud time officials said that’s why the phone in Bruges. Snauwaert said he and Goossens, one of two journalists who Belgium mortality rate stuck stub- many of his staff members worked seven visited nursing home facilities and spoke bornly at the top of the charts. days a week from March through May, to more than 40 doctors, nurses, home Now months into the crisis, official treating residents—accustomed to fre- directors, and government officials. In deaths can be compared with the quent daily contact with one another— Flanders alone, the journalists discov- excess mortality of Europe’s worst- in isolation and battling critical supply ered that more than 3,000 of a total hit countries to give a more accu- shortages. His own facility ran out of 4,800 COVID-19 victims were people rate picture. Using that measure, oxygen. who lived in residential care facilities, Belgium’s official deaths come in “People thought: Those residential Goossens said. at 87 percent of excess deaths—a care centers, they are already death At Atrium, a 44-bed nursing home good score, but one that means its houses, if they [die] there a little earlier, in Kraainem, Goossens spoke to director high mortality rate is also reason- then so be it,” he said. Kathy Huybrechts. Huybrechts slept on ably accurate. What’s clear for With COVID-19, said Léopold Van- a mattress atop her desk through the now: Nearly all official data tends bellingen, research officer at the Euro- crisis once her head nurse and 13 others to undercount COVID-19 deaths. pean Institute of Bioethics, “the main became ill with the coronavirus. Short- problem we have had is with politicians staffed and overwhelmed, Huybrechts who chose to sacrifice nursing home summoned ambulances to take sick residents for this crisis.” residents. Twice, medics arrived but

JOHN THYS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES 07.18.20 WORLD 45 refused to accept them once they learned they were COVID-19 cases. Between April and May, 14 of 44 Atrium residents died. “Huybrechts had problems that everyone in the sector had,” Goossens told me by email. “And they felt abandoned.”

LACK OF PREPAREDNESS for a pandemic has dogged the coronavirus response on both sides of the Atlantic, costing lives predominantly among the elderly but also furthering the spread under the guise of containment. In April New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state health commissioner Howard Zucker made it all but mandatory for hospitals to discharge nursing home patients with COVID-19 and return them to their facilities as a way to free up beds. In a state order issued March 25, Cuomo also barred testing of those being placed or returned to nursing homes. In the weeks following, the coronavirus killed more than 6,000 nursing home residents in New York. At a Troy, N.Y., nursing home, an investigation by ProPublica showed how the virus multiplied among residents and nonelderly caregivers. Hospitals transferred to the home two residents with COVID-19 on April 22. Within one As in the United States, nursing Some resort to morphine and other sed- month, 18 residents had died. Another homes in Belgium instituted strict atives to treat the “air hunger” that’s a 58 had been infected, while at least half no-visitation policies that made it hard panic-inducing effect of severe COVID- of the nursing home’s 100 workers to impossible for family members to 19. Without proper dosing, it can lead tested positive for the virus. ensure loved ones received adequate to a quick death. Other states followed that protocol care. Unlike the United States, Belgium Vanbellingen stressed that at this time with similar results, ProPublica found: has arguably the most permissive laws he sees “no direct link between eutha- Michigan lost 5 percent of roughly in the world on euthanasia, or physi- nasia and COVID-19.” But more study 38,000 nursing home residents, and cian-assisted suicide. remains as the virus caseload subsides. New Jersey lost 12 percent of more than With the pandemic, watchdog On June 15 the Westervier residential 43,000 residents. In contrast Florida, groups worry overstretched facilities care center in Bruges, with no reported which barred hospital transfers back to could resort to euthanizing sick resi- cases of the virus, reopened to visitors. nursing homes and tested 80 percent dents. At nursing homes in Wallonia, “When there is an outbreak again, we of nursing home residents, by mid-June relatives report receiving consent forms can organize more quickly,” said Snau- had 1.6 percent of 73,000 nursing home prescribing reduced treatment for res- waert, the director. residents die. idents, particularly those with dementia. The rate of infection in Belgium Columbia University epidemiologist The form, seen by WORLD, asks relatives dropped drastically after its mid-April Charles Branas said the “reverse triage” to circle “yes” or “no” to indicate peak, but the number of deaths has con- strategy may well have increased New whether the resident should receive tinued to rise. Residents and caregivers York’s death toll: “If you introduce 4,500 hydration, oxygen, and medicine like are “stressed and tired,” Snauwaert said. people sick with a potentially lethal dis- antibiotics. “We have conflicts over what happened, ease into a vulnerable and notoriously In facilities with high COVID-19 rates, some sharp, and we need silence and imperfectly monitored population,” he palliative sedation has become a form relief from the care load before we can told ProPublica, “people are apt to die.” of treatment, according to Vanbellingen. go back as we were.”

46 WORLD 07.18.20 STEPHEN SPERANZA/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX SINGING FOR THE SUFFERING

LIKE OFFICE WORKERS ACROSS EUROPE, Luiza Chrzanowska found herself sidelined by COVID-19. A day job as an economist with the European Commission at its headquarters in Brussels turned into teleworking from home, alone. The ecumenical choir she leads, Chapel for Europe, took a sudden sabbatical as the coronavirus canceled events. Closed borders and travel bans meant the Catholic evangelical could not return to her native Poland. “Missing Easter breakfast with my family has probably been the most difficult thing for me,” Chrza nowska told me when I reached her by phone in the Belgian capital. Her choir no longer met for singing, “too contagious,” she said, “so we had Zoom rehearsals instead.” That’s when Chrzanowska and several choir members from the Well, a cross-cultural evangelical church in Brussels, had an idea: They could take their singing to the suffering. The group began with an impromptu Sunday afternoon concert outside Cinquantenaire, a private elderly care facility with hundreds of residents in the Brussels suburb of Etterbeek. The musicians, about 15 altogether, added another home for the elderly about five minutes’ walk away, where the mother of one of their members resides. In early May when they began, COVID-19 deaths in Belgium had come down from several thousand a day in April to perhaps 600 a day, more than half of them in nursing homes like these. But a strict lockdown, already in place for six weeks, continued. Only food shops were open and shopping was limited to one person per family. Residents could leave their homes for one hour’s exercise per day, and police used drones to monitor social distancing. At the nursing homes, relatives couldn’t visit and residents were confined inside their own rooms. FAMILY MEMBERS VISIT VERA SCHEER, 94, AT A NURSING Chrzanowska’s outdoor concerts quickly became anticipated HOME IN LONG ISLAND, N.Y., ON MAY 9. events, and the singers learned to recognize each resident at his or her window. Some stood, obviously waiting for them, while a saxo- Westervier got its start in a Catholic phonist roused others from rest. Accordion and trumpet players congregation in 1688 among “spin- also accompanied the singers, with everyone in the group using their sters,” a group of women who worked allotted exercise time to make the sessions happen. at the spinning wheel. They served their Harmonizing outdoors and with distance takes a lot of improvising, neighbors visiting and caring for the said Chrzanowska, but soon she learned those indoors were calling sick and aged in their homes. Gradually them the “Choir of Love.” They were making a difference, said relatives they created enduring group housing and staff. One resident attempted suicide early in lockdown. She for the elderly, and in 1991 the church became the first to stand on a balcony awaiting the choir’s arrival. established a nonprofit that runs mul- The Cinquantenaire director, seeing the effect, rented a hydraulic tiple care facilities in West Flanders. “In scaffold for the singers to be lifted to the windows of each floor. the turbulent waters of history, these “People join us in the street too. We choose songs they know, and women were able to adapt their service it means so much that we are coming to show our love. There’s real to sick and aging people again and bonding going on,” Chrzanowska said. “Even if you go for half an again, depending on the needs of their hour, it matters. It’s doing unto the least of these for all that Jesus own time,” reads the nonprofit’s web- has done for me.” site. On a Sunday in June, one of the regulars didn’t show at her win- Snauwaert hopes his people can dow. “We feared she had died of COVID-19,” said Chrzanowska, “but adapt again: “The people we have lost as we were finishing, she appeared. She had just taken a nap and are people we know well. But also it’s was late. So we stayed longer to sing just for her.” —M.B. important to look to the future and hope we can do things better than before.”

EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @mcbelz 07.18.20 WORLD 47

Waiting out a pandemic IN 2019, THE U.S. ORGAN TRANSPLANT PROGRAM LOGGED ITS SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF RECORD-HIGH TRANSPLANTS. THE CORONAVIRUS THREATENS TO REVERSE THAT TREND

A CALEB TEAM REPORT BY CHARISSA KOH & DANIEL JAMES DEVINE illustration by Krieg Barrie

N 2003, REGISTERED NURSE MICHAEL TWITCHELL accidentally discovered he had a rare heart disorder while troubleshooting an electrocardiogram monitor. He attached the leads to his chest and saw “some really weird EKGs,” he says. A year later, he received a diagnosis: idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy, a condition that expands the heart’s atria, or upper chambers, like balloons. Without a heart transplant, patients with the disease will die because their heart cannot pump enough blood. Twitchell had no symptoms. He resumed his active lifestyle in western Colorado, cycling, mountain hiking, and practicing taekwondo. He often cooked for his wife and two children. But in 2018, his heart went into atrial fibrillation, when the atria quiver and beat out of sync with the lower heart. After unsuccessful treatments, Twitchell’s doctor recommended a heart transplant. Twitchell joined the organ transplant waitlist on Nov. 7, 2018, and over the next year, his symptoms worsened. He and his wife moved to Denver to be near the state’s only transplant center. Twitchell could no longer work, and he used a power chair to visit museums and attend social gatherings. On good days, he could take half-mile walks. He slept in the afternoons to have energy to cook dinner. Still, his body was compensating too well: He was not a priority on the waitlist. Then a pandemic hit. In March and April, as the coronavirus spread and hospitals braced for COVID-19 patients, heart donations plummeted. Twitchell’s long wait is now likely to take even longer.

07.18.20 WORLD 49 The coronavirus outbreak has deliv- MICHAEL TWITCHELL WITH A CATHETER GOING the previous two months. Heart trans- THROUGH HIS NECK AND INTO HIS HEART TO ered a setback to the U.S. transplant MEASURE INTERNAL PRESSURES. plants dropped by 15 percent, lung program, responsible for providing transplants by 31 percent. more than 30,000 organs to patients The decrease is significant for people each year. As hospitals across the coun- To better understand the pandemic’s awaiting a new organ. Twitchell is one try canceled elective surgeries to avoid impact on the transplant program, of nearly 2,000 U.S. patients who have spreading the virus, they also canceled WORLD reviewed data from the Organ already waited a year or more for a heart or postponed many transplant opera- Procurement and Transplantation Net- transplant. tions. In other cases, transplant candi- work (OPTN), which tracks organ trans- For them, the hardest part is the dates declined available organs because plants throughout the United States. The unknown. of fears of contracting COVID-19. Cur- data suggest that, before the pandemic “You never know when an organ rent figures from the donation program struck, organ transplants this year were could be available,” Twitchell said. “You show transplants have decreased by 6 on pace to set yet another record: The never know when you’re absolutely percent so far this year. program logged a total of 6,807 trans- going to crash and your heart’s finally The downturn in life-saving organ plants in January and February—an going to just give out on you.” donations could reverse a growth trend increase of nearly 12 percent from the for the program. Last year marked the same months of 2019. S THE PANDEMIC descended seventh consecutive year of record-high “This COVID crisis has clearly shut on the United States, hospitals U.S. organ transplants—39,719 total. The that growth off,” noted Dr. Richard For- prepared for an expected long-term increase has come amid mica, president of the American Society influx of COVID-19 patients. increased donor registrations and of Transplantation. They converted operating improved transplant procedures. Less OPTN figures show how the surger- rooms into intensive care units happily, an increase in opioid overdose ies plummeted after the coronavirus or coronavirus wards. They deaths has also helped drive the dona- arrived: In March and April, transplants A reserved masks, gloves, ICU tion uptick. dropped by 26 percent compared with beds, and ventilators for COVID-19

50 WORLD 07.18.20 HANDOUT patients. Many shifted appointments to But even if a hospital is willing to That’s wonderful news for motorists. video platforms and canceled (often by schedule a vital transplant surgery, But it also means fewer than expected government mandate) any surgeries and there can’t be a surgery without a donor: organs for transplant candidates. OPTN procedures they could—including some The number of “deceased” donors— data shows 500 traffic victims became organ transplants. people who died and donated their organ donors from January to May this Sometimes, transplants can wait. organs—dropped 18 percent in March year, down 7 percent from last year’s Patients waiting for a new kidney can and April. total for those months. use dialysis machines to clean their Kevin Cmunt runs Gift of Hope, an Cmunt said his organization has also blood in the meantime. For heart organ procurement organization (OPO) seen significantly fewer heart attack and patients, a left ventricular assist device in Illinois. His staff talks with potential stroke victims. People are still dying can sometimes keep a heart pumping. donor families and recovers organs from from those conditions, but some have Other times, the transplant can’t wait. deceased donors. In the first half of died at home instead of in the emer- For these patients, each day waiting for March, Gift of Hope had 20 organ gency room, possibly because they an organ is another day of deteriorating donors and 50 transplants. But in the feared going to the ER and catching the health. second half, it had only seven donors coronavirus. To be an organ donor, a Teresa Toro, 60, has spent most of and 17 transplants. “That’s a cliff,” said person must die in a hospital, where a 2020 in a Florida hospital. She has alpha-1 Cmunt. Some of his staff nurses volun- ventilator can keep oxygen flowing to antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic condi- teered at the hospital to stay busy. the organs until a team can remove tion that can make it difficult to breathe. Cmunt described the drop-off as a them. Organs must be transplanted to A double-lung transplant in 2016 sus- result of Americans staying at home recipients within a few hours, or they tained her for four years, but last Decem- during the early weeks of the coronavi- become useless. ber her body began rejecting the lungs. rus outbreak: Fewer traffic accidents (A single deceased donor can pro- She was hospitalized in January. and work accidents meant fewer people vide organs for up to eight transplants. As COVID-19 spread across the coun- suffered traumatic brain injuries that If a patient dies without registering as try, Toro’s hospital decided to halt trans- would make them potential donors. an organ donor, OPOs send a team to plant surgeries temporarily. But her The National Safety Council reported ask the person’s family members if they condition worsened until doctors pre- preliminary data from March showing consent to donation.) dicted she had only a month to live. the total number of U.S. traffic fatalities Hundreds of postponed transplants Three days before the end of her month, in March decreased 8 percent as people in March and April involved living a donor lung became available. Toro stayed home from work and avoided donors, who can donate a kidney or par- received her lung transplant on April 18. nonessential travel. tial liver. Hospitals concerned about the

Weekly heart transplants in U.S. since January

TRANSPLANTS PERFORMED TRANSPLANTS 0 Jan. 5 Jan. Feb. 2 Feb. May 3 Feb. 9 Feb. June 7 June April 5 Jan. 12 Jan. May 17 May Jan. 19 Jan. May 31 Feb. 16 Feb. May 10 May Jan. 26 Jan. May 24 Feb. 23 Feb. April 12 April 19 March 1 March April 26 March 8 March March 15 March March 22 March March 29 March

SOURCE: UNITED NETWORK FOR ORGAN SHARING 07.18.20 WORLD 51 coronavirus typically rescheduled such and then potentially exposed to the surgeries for later dates (see sidebar). coronavirus versus the risk of not get- Patients needing a transplant go ting a transplant,” Paschke said. In mid- through extensive testing and evaluation May, more than 3,700 waitlist patients before earning a place on the transplant were inactive due to COVID-19. waitlist. When a donor becomes avail- Transplant programs can also able, the OPO enters his or her medical decline to accept a particular organ for information into a nationwide computer a particular patient for various reasons. database. The system uses factors like In March UNOS implemented new location, progression of illness, and time refusal codes to help track the impact on the waitlist to generate a list of poten- of the coronavirus. Preliminary data tial recipients. The OPO team then con- viewed by WORLD show that from tacts the hospitals of the top-matched March 25 to May 3, transplant programs patients and offers the organ. When refused transplant organ offers 232,455 someone accepts, the surgery can hap- times due to coronavirus-related rea- pen within hours. sons. (One organ may have multiple The waitlist had 110,266 people as refusals.) Those reasons could include of June 30. Even in the best times, can- donors or transplant candidates who didates on the waitlist outnumber avail- had either tested positive for the virus able organs. Plus, some people become or been exposed to it, or temporary too sick for a transplant and die after shortages of transplant program work- leaving the waitlist, and others need an ers or available operating rooms. organ but are not yet sick enough to be It is unclear whether transplanting listed. an organ from a donor who has SARS- The United Network for Organ Shar- CoV-2 could transmit the virus to the ing (UNOS), the nonprofit that manages recipient, although Paschke said OPOs U.S. organ transplants, says around 17 are testing donors for the virus. The people died on the waitlist every day in American Society of Transplantation, 2018. in a draft guidance document, recom- So far this year, deaths among sick mended testing for the virus in donors waitlist patients do not appear to have “whenever feasible.” It acknowledged increased, but it may take more time to such testing wouldn’t always be feasible see the full picture. for deceased-donor transplants “due to “I think the waitlist mortality will time constraints or logistical issues.” blip up, but I don’t know,” said Dr. Mar- their own. Cmunt shared updates and wan Abouljoud, a liver surgeon and ESPITE THE CHALLENGES the ideas with other OPO directors through president of the American Society of pandemic has introduced, online chat rooms and forums. Early on, Transplant Surgeons. “Their illness did transplant coordinators have most OPOs only tested donors if they not stop while organ donation was slow- worked hard to keep life-sav- showed COVID-19 symptoms. But Cmunt ing down.” ing transplants coming. The said Gift of Hope began testing all Because of the pandemic, some wait- U.S. transplant program donors for the coronavirus, following list patients are temporarily “inactive,” appears to have fared better the lead of an OPO director in Seattle, meaning they will not accept organ D than programs in some other an early epicenter of the viral outbreak. offers. In mid-March, UNOS, which runs countries. For example, in April, as the Transplant centers also connected: the OPTN under a contract with the United Kingdom battled the coronavirus Jennifer Milton, who runs a transplant federal government, created a new code outbreak, surgeons there performed center at University Health System in to track such patients—“inactive due to only 99 organ transplants, the fewest in San Antonio, said she received a steady COVID-19.” The first week, 1,100 patients 36 years, the BBC reported. stream of information from Seattle and became inactive under the new code. In the United States, creativity and New York. A New York team warned that The next week, the number more than collaboration have proven essential. if a single member on a transplant team doubled. Anne Paschke at UNOS said Early in the pandemic, Kevin Cmunt was infected, the entire transplant team the code covers patients who had at Gift of Hope heard constantly chang- could be quarantined. “We started hear- COVID-19, were exposed to it, or feared ing safety guidance. At first, the direc- ing from them, ‘Keep your team apart,’” catching it in the hospital. tions said not to wear a mask, but then she said. “We were able to implement “Transplant centers and patients hospitals required them for everyone. that in a day—24 hours.” have to weigh the risk of getting a trans- Gift of Hope staffers scoured the inter- As Milton’s transplant workers dealt plant, becoming immunosuppressed net for masks, and some began to sew with the added pressure, several trans-

52 WORLD 07.18.20 GIFT OF HOPE

KIDNEYS TO COME Eighty-six percent of people on the U.S. organ waitlist are awaiting a kidney, but U.S. doctors have performed 8 percent fewer kidney transplants this year compared with 2019. Because kidneys sometimes come from living donors (each person has two kidneys but can survive with only one), hospitals postponed hundreds of kidney transplants during the first few months of the pandemic. It was safer, they reasoned, to delay the surgeries for both donor and kidney recipient rather than risk the spread of the coronavirus. One such patient is 52-year-old Madj Louzini, who grew up in Paris, France, but moved to the United States 25 years ago. In 2007, a doctor discovered Louzini had developed Berger’s disease. The condition can cause the kidneys to lose their ability to filter blood. Louzini led a normal life for another 12 years, running his transportation company in Charlotte, N.C. Then, last year, he became sick: He ached with cramps and was fatigued during the day. His doctor told him his kidneys were failing and he needed a transplant. Louzini’s brother in France offered him a kidney, so Louzini returned to plant recipients sent messages and cards KEVIN CMUNT SPEAKS TO A CHILD Paris. “When I went to see the doctor in AT A GIFT OF HOPE EVENT. to encourage them. One lung recipient January, he said, ‘You need to do dialy- had breakfast delivered for workers at sis or you’re going to die,’” Louzini said. her hospital. He started dialysis treatments and Cmunt said the Gift of Hope staff When the coronavirus hit, Twitch- began planning for a transplant surgery holds virtual Friday cocktail hours and ell began wearing gloves and the N95 scheduled for April. bingo nights to stay connected and share mask he bought for the Denver pollu- Then the coronavirus hit France. In life updates and tips about homeschool- tion. He also stopped leaving his apart- mid-March, his surgeon called to say ing. “I’m really proud of them, that ment: “I’m so high risk I basically hide, the transplant operation would have to they’ve been able to continue to make and I let my family do all the shop- be postponed. donations happen under some trying ping.” Even worse, Louzini became sick circumstances,” he said. But he said the pandemic is just one with COVID-19 himself. Soon after start- more thing he can’t control. He attends ing dialysis, he developed a persistent N MAY, AS STATES relaxed lock- counseling to fight depression, and he cough and began waking up at night down orders and hospitals participates in a grief group at his with his sheets soaked in sweat. He got rescheduled more surgeries, church. As a Christian, Twitchell finds diarrhea and could hardly walk: “After transplant numbers started to encouragement reading the Bible. six weeks, I was dying, and really, really get back on track, rising almost “No one understands my disease. wanted to die.” to pre-pandemic levels. Mean- No one knows why I got it,” he said. Louzini, still in Paris, has recovered while, many patients like Michael “The trust and leaving it in God’s hands from the virus but is still undergoing I Twitchell are still waiting for an has been difficult. But you know, all you dialysis and awaiting a kidney. His organ, unsure how much the pandemic can do is keep believing and take one doctor expects his transplant to occur has affected their chances. more step, one more day.” by mid-July.

EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @WORLD_mag 07.18.20 WORLD 53 A CULTURAL GENOCIDE BEFORE OUR EYES

The Uighur diaspora is speaking out as family members disappear into reeducation camps in Xinjiang, but will the world listen?

BY JUNE CHENG | PHOTO BY LUCAS BOLAND

HE LAST TIME AKIDA PULAT saw her AKIDA PULAT HOLDS A mother, renowned Uighur anthropol PHOTO OF ogist Rahile Dawut, was in 2016. HER MOTHER, T RAHILE Dawut had come as a visiting scholar DAWUT. to the University of Washington, where Pulat was studying for her master’s degree. She remembers her mother spending hours cooking Uighur polo, a traditional dish of rice mixed with carrots and topped with lamb, for her newly made Chinese and American friends. When Pulat said goodbye to her mother at the airport, she promised she’d go back home to Ürümqi to visit the next year. But the planned trip home never happened. In December 2017, Pulat received a voice message from Dawut saying she needed to go to Beijing and wouldn’t be able to call her that night. Administrators at Xin jiang University, where Dawut taught Uighur culture

54 WORLD 07.18.20 07.18.20 WORLD 55 and tradition, told her to pack for an urgent conference in Beijing. But Pulat grew worried after she hadn’t heard back from her mother a few days later, fearing she had been in a plane crash. Over a video call, her father and grandmother only vaguely remarked that Pulat should be patient, as it was inconvenient for Dawut to return her phone call at the moment. Chinese authorities monitor commu nication in and out of the region, so they had to be careful. From reading their facial expressions, Pulat felt reassured that nothing too serious had happened. But Pulat soon learned the truth: The government had taken her mother in a large-scale crackdown on the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. The Chinese claimed the reason for sending more than 1 million Uighur and Muslim ethnic minorities to reeducation camps is to rid them of separatist mindsets and provide vocational training. Yet Pulat says her mother was not political or very religious, and, as a prominent scholar about to retire, she hardly needed job training. A CHINESE As the days dragged on without any news about FLAG FLIES OVER A her mother, Pulat began to lose her patience. In August MOSQUE 2019, Pulat decided to start speaking out about her AUTHORITIES CLOSED IN mother’s situation to the media and campaigning for THE OLD her release. “I started to speak out of fear, the same TOWN OF KASHGAR, IN reason why I stayed silent,” Pulat said. “Now I fear my XINJIANG mother will be detained forever as there is no trans PROVINCE. parency in Xinjiang, and I don’t know what environ ment she’s in. If anything bad happens to her, I will not forgive myself.” Uighurs living overseas like Pulat have been thrust into an advocacy role to help their detained family mem countries along the historic Silk Road. Relations bers. Chinese officials have largely cut communication between the Chinese government and Uighurs have out of Xinjiang and barred international journalists from long been tense, as China tried to assimilate the region getting anywhere near the reeducation camps or speak by sending Han Chinese into the area, forbidding ing with any locals. Last December authorities claimed Uighur-language schools, and restricting Uighurs’ the “trainees” had graduated from the “vocational train Muslim religious practices. ing centers,” but a recent report found officials had sent Ethnic tensions have occasionally flared in the them out as forced labor into factories around China. region, and Uighur separatist groups have staged ter The international community has done little to rorist attacks in recent years, including the 2014 Kun address the persecution of the Uighurs, despite media ming train station attack where Uighur militants attention and leaked documents providing details about stabbed 150 people and killed 31. Xinjiang’s Commu the camps and the government’s policies. In May, the nist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo began a harsh U.S. House and Senate nearly unanimously passed the crackdown in 2016, turning the region into a high-tech Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which would sanction surveillance state covered with security cameras, Chinese leaders complicit in the oppression of Uighurs. checkpoints, and armed security forces. President Donald Trump signed the bill in mid-June. In the past three years since the news first broke But with the United Nations and many countries largely about the reeducation camps, evidence and eyewitness influenced by Beijing, those who speak out often feel testimonies about the cultural genocide have grown. A they are screaming into a void. leak of more than 400 pages of government documents About 11 million Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic minority, about Xinjiang revealed President Xi Jinping in 2014 live in western China in an area Uighurs call “East called for the government to show “absolutely no Turkestan” but the Chinese call Xinjiang Uighur Auton mercy” in fighting extremism in Xinjiang after the Kun omous Region. Filled with precious oil and mineral ming train attack. Another leak revealed how the camps reserves, Xinjiang is important to China’s Belt and prevent detainees from escaping with double-locked Road Initiative that seeks to develop infrastructure in dormitory rooms, video surveillance, and guard posts.

56 WORLD 07.18.20 Using satellite images, activist groups say they have identified nearly 500 camps in the region. They’ve also found that authorities have razed mosques and covered a historic Uighur graveyard with a paved parking lot. Authorities send detainees who “graduate” from the camps to work in factories around China to separate them from their families. Authorities continue to monitor them and force them to continue indoctri nation classes, according to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The factories are part of the supply chain of 83 global brands including Nike, BMW, and Apple.

JEVLAN SHIRMEMMET GREW UP in Qorghas county in northwestern Xinjiang, a Uighur and the son of gov ernment workers. Starting in kindergarten, his parents enrolled him in a Mandarin school, thinking it would help him eventually get a job. As he grew older, he started to see changes in the ways Han Chinese viewed Uighurs: Some felt the minority group had unfair advantages such as extra points added to their college exam scores. Yet Shirmem met says the quotas for ethnic minorities also meant they had to fight for a small number of spots. Shirmemmet’s parents advised him to keep his head down and focus on his education. He attended Xinjiang University before deciding to study abroad in Turkey. In 2013, he returned to travel around China with friends and remembers experiencing discrimination for his ethnicity: At each hotel he stayed at, police would knock on his door to check his ID and ask what he was doing there. Frustrated, he began to pretend AUTHORITIES HAVE RAZED to be a foreigner by speaking English. The last time Shirmemmet visited home was in MOSQUES AND COVERED October 2016. Afterward he started to hear about A HISTORIC UIGHUR GRAVEYARD friends disappearing amid the increasing crackdown. He thought his parents would be safe, as they worked WITH A PAVED PARKING LOT. for the government, but in January 2018, his family suddenly deleted him on WeChat. Just days before, he had had an ordinary chat with his mother and planned to talk with her again soon. Then, silence. Sayragul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh woman who Shirmemmet feared that by trying to contact them was forced to teach at a reeducation camp before he would bring them more trouble. Through a friend, escaping the country, described the camps as cramped he learned that his parents and younger brother had and unhygienic, with detainees given only meager been sent to a reeducation camp. His father and meals. Authorities force the detainees to learn Chinese, brother were later released, but his mother had been sit through indoctrination classes, and make public sentenced to five years in detention. Shirmemmet confessions. She told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper that believes this is because she had visited Turkey in 2013 torture and rape were common and that authorities through a Chinese tour group and met with him while forced detainees to take a medicine that made some in Istanbul. sterile or cognitively impaired. “I was terrified,” Shirmemmet said. “I had no con A report by researcher Adrian Zenz found incidents tact with my family, and I can’t hear my mother’s voice. of sterilization were not isolated: Through forced ster This is very hard to deal with, very hard to endure.” ilizations, forced abortions, and forced IUDs, the birth As a Chinese citizen, Shirmemmet repeatedly con rates in the mostly Uighur regions Hotan and Kashgar tacted the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul to gather plummeted by more than 60 percent from 2015 to more information about his mother, but officials there 2018. didn’t respond. In January 2020 he decided to go

KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES 07.18.20 WORLD 57 public, recording his testimonial on YouTube, posting He says some of his Chinese friends sympathize on social media, and speaking with media. A month with him; others have been convinced by Chinese later, the consulate finally called him back. The officials propaganda that the government treats Uighurs well accused him of contacting foreign forces in Turkey and is only rooting out terrorism. and Egypt, which Shirmemmet strongly rejected, as Even though it can get discouraging, he plans to he had never even been to Egypt. keep speaking out: “You can’t shut my mouth.” They claimed his mother was likely detained because she supported terrorism. Shirmemmet SPEAKING OUT COMES WITH SERIOUS RISKS. Rushan demanded to see the documentation of her charges, Abbas, director of Campaign for Uyghurs, participated but the official said they first needed him to write down in a panel on the persecution of Uighurs at the Hudson everyone he had met with during his four years in Institute on Sept. 5, 2018. Six days later, authorities Turkey. He complied, sending in four pages of his took her sister and aunt—her only remaining family contacts, but the consulate still hasn’t responded. members in Xinjiang—from their homes, which are Like Pulat, Shirmemmet thinks the government’s 870 miles apart. Her sister, Gulshan, is a retired doctor claims the camps are vocational training centers are who didn’t fit into any of the criteria that officials ludicrous: What did his parents, who had worked for usually use to detain Uighurs: She didn’t wear a head the government for 30 years and could speak perfect scarf, hadn’t traveled to any Muslim-majority country, Mandarin, need to be trained for? And why weren’t doesn’t communicate with anyone from those coun non-Uighurs also given this training? tries, and is not famous or an academic. Abbas is cer

58 WORLD 07.18.20 JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES go through the same questions. … I can’t think of any reason for her to be in the camps. … Why her?” For Abbas, who lived through the Cultural Revo lution, the government repression is less surprising. Her mother tells a story of how the Red Guards dragged her to reeducation camps after they stormed into her home as she was breastfeeding Abbas and shoved Abbas into her grandmother’s arms. Abbas was 10 years old when Chairman Mao Zedong died, and she remembers the next decade as one of increasing freedoms as colleges reopened, scholars wrote books about Uighur history and culture, and people could study abroad. Yet she always knew Uighurs were treated as secondary citizens, and, espe cially after 9/11, the government began to demonize Uighurs as extremists and terrorists. When news of the camps reached the Uighur dias pora, Abbas realized she needed to speak out for her people and founded Campaign for Uyghurs. Yet she’s been frustrated by the world’s muted response. She believes many world leaders have stayed quiet out of fear of economic reprisals from China. Rather than punishing China, the International Olympic Commit tee has made Beijing the host city of the 2022 Winter PROTESTERS Olympics. OUTSIDE THE CHINESE Abbas is also seeing China undermine freedom in EMBASSY IN the United States: Last November, she was slated to BERLIN DEMONSTRATE speak on a panel about Chinese human rights abuses AGAINST at Columbia University that the school abruptly CHINA’S MISTREATMENT canceled. The school claimed organizers failed to fol OF MEMBERS low room reservation policies, yet the panelists believe OF THE UIGHUR COMMUNITY the school had been pressured by a Chinese student IN WESTERN group that had planned a counterprotest at the event. CHINA. When President Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Act, which would use the Global Magnitsky Act to sanction the perpetrators of the repression in Xin jiang, Abbas’ Campaign for Uyghurs released a state ment praising the “remarkable occasion” as one victory tain she was detained in retaliation for her public on a long path for the oppressed group. It called on advocacy. other “peace-loving nations” to pass similar legislation. Gulshan’s daughter, Ziba Murat, lives in Florida, But Trump’s former national security adviser, John where she works as a corporate analyst. She remembers Bolton, wrote in a book released June 23 that Trump last speaking to her mother on Sept. 10, 2018. Murat actually encouraged Xi to build reeducation camps as typically had talked with her mother every day, and the two negotiated a trade deal. Trump denied the it was extremely unusual for her mother not to respond. claim and signed the Uyghur Human Rights Act right When she tried to ask other relatives in Xinjiang, no as excerpts from Bolton’s book appeared in U.S. media, one would even mention her mother’s name. igniting debate about Trump’s dealings with Xi. A few months after her mother’s disappearance, Abbas noted there is only so much the Uighur dias Murat also began to speak out, as she couldn’t find pora, which numbers between 5,000 and 6,000, can any information about her mother’s whereabouts or do alone, so they need the global community to stand health condition. In May, she set up a petition calling up against China. the U.S. government to help bring her mother home “It’s not going to stay in our homeland,” Abbas from the camp. Murat described her mother as a gen said. “China is changing the rule of law, the world tle and caring person who “makes helping others an order, so if people are only looking out for economic obligation rather than a choice.” benefit, just look at what’s happening to Uighurs now. Murat says she never imagined anything like this … That’s what their children and grandchildren will could happen: “It feels like a nightmare. Every day I face if they don’t act.”

EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @WORLD_mag 07.18.20 WORLD 59 Reasonable accommodation

60 WORLD 07.18.20 BARRY THUMMA/AP The Americans With Disabilities Act, which turns 30 this month, steered Jim Terry toward a more accessible career by Kim Henderson in Birmingham, Ala.

THE DAY IN 1990 PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH inked the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), history and weather cooperated in a fitting way. At least, that’s what Irving King Jordan remembers. Back then, he was president of Gallaudet University, the only university in the United States devoted specifically to the education of the deaf. Jordan—the first deaf president of Gallaudet—took his place on the South Lawn of the White House among 3,000 spectators soaking up sun and ceremonial signing alike. He smiles at the mem- ory: “It was a shining moment and a shining day.” The throng that “shining day” included people with seeing eye dogs, people riding on gurneys, and people with hard-to-detect cognitive impairments. Up front, an armless Church of Christ minister stood smiling near center stage, and in a hint of foreshadowing, two men in wheelchairs flanked Bush. The president couldn’t guess he’d one day be in their shoes, in a wheelchair counting curb cuts and ramps as part of his own accessibility needs. Jim Terry never guessed curb cuts and ramps would be a big part of his life, either. The University of Southern California School of Architecture graduate was busy designing medical and university facilities for the firm his father started in Birmingham, Ala., when ADA regulations came down the pike. The landmark legislation that marks its 30th anniversary this month promised sweeping changes in America’s public spaces and workplaces. It certainly brought changes to his. “We’d just had two of the largest projects in our firm’s history put on hold,” he remembers. “We realized that helping our clients comply with the new laws could be a source of needed work.” Enacted on July 26, 1990, the ADA prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities and required “places of public accommodations” to be made accessible to them by January 1992. Spurred by the deadline, Terry and architect Bill Hecker dug into the law’s requirements and quickly found them to be complicated and perva- sive. The firm changed course: Rather than do the work of compliance Reasonable accommodation

07.18.20 WORLD 61 for their clients, Evan Terry Associates became accessibility experts and instruc- tors. They taught their clients how to comply for themselves. It was a smart move. While other architectural firms stuck to their drawing tables, Terry traveled as an ADA compliance consultant to places like the U.S. Capitol, Madison Square Garden, and Stanford University. His firm noted their need for refigured bathroom fixtures, van-accessible parking lot striping, cap- tioned jumbotrons, modified elevators, and hundreds of other changes that allowed people with disabilities to use their facilities and services. Now 66, Terry has helped author 15 books on access compliance; he’s trained thousands to become ADA informed; and his firm has launched a website that offers official documents, how-to videos, expert opinions, and design ideas to anyone wrestling with accessibility issues. The ADA’s framers structured the legislation to integrate people with disabilities into mainstream life, but some bosses balk at adapting practices and spending money to make their services or workrooms accessible. Terry calls it “inertia against change,” and he gets animated when he describes how compliance can make good business sense. He recalls a bank client who was concerned about the ADA provision that JIM TERRY IN HIS BIRMINGHAM OFFICE required companies to communicate effectively with the disabled. While Con- gress was still debating the law, the bank’s officials—thinking they had 10 visually impaired customers at most— decided to be proactive and offer Braille MAINSTREAM MOSAIC statements. A year later they were print- Few, if any, public spaces don’t con- decades would come and go before ing more than a thousand each month. tain proof of the extensive ADA the movement garnered major suc- “It turns out there are lots of people footprint. Even the most unlikely cess: passage of the Rehabilitation who want Braille statements,” Terry bathroom will have a grab bar Act of 1973. That act, twice vetoed explains. “Parents would come back and installed by a 19-inch (max) tall toi- by President Nixon before his con- say, ‘I’ve had to read my son’s statements let, right next to a wall-mounted sent, was the first law to protect the to him every month, and he’s 35 years sink with wrap pipes and 6 inches civil rights of people with disabili- old. He would rather do that for himself. of foot clearance—all designed with ties. Seventeen years later, the ADA This is a great deal, so we’re moving our wheelchair accessibility in mind. upped the ante by requiring rea- family accounts. Oh, and by the way, my Things were different when sonable accommodations in public husband is moving his business account injured veterans returned from spaces and workplaces for people over, too, because you guys are doing America’s world wars. Their with disabilities. At its signing, Pres- the right thing for them.’” attempts at coping in wheelchair- ident George H.W. Bush said he Possible profit and sure-thing tax unfriendly public terrain made dis- hoped people with disabilities incentives aside, ADA compliance can ability issues more visible, but would be given the opportunity to be costly. Noncompliance can be cost- lier. In March 2019, a federal judge ruled

62 WORLD 07.18.20 RONALD POLLARD/GENESIS transportation authorities in New York violated the ADA when they spent $27 million to renovate a Bronx subway station—but didn’t add elevators. Still, Terry sees the ADA as more than a civil rights law and says Christians shouldn’t need it to motivate them to treat fairly the disabled: “The command in Leviticus to not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind is reason enough to clear schools and restaurants and shopping malls of barriers.” That goes for discrimination in the workplace, too. “Most people would really like to work. It’s fulfilling. It’s Scriptural. Are there reasonable accommodations that can allow people to do the essential functions of their job? Then make them. Are there stereotypical atti- tudes based on irrational analysis of real capabilities? Then change them.” Terry walked his talk when his firm hired a young man with quadriplegia. To complete his computer reports, the employee needed voice recognition soft- ware and an updated soundboard—pre- Siri features with a $3,000 price tag. That’s six times the amount the Depart- ment of Labor estimates an employer spends on the average calculable worker accommodation. The new hire soon became the fastest typist in the office.

“blend fully and equally into the rich sus. That trend makes defining dis- One reason: Disability is lucra- mosaic of the American main- abilities—and the capabilities of tive. stream.” people with disabilities—compli- In Mississippi, a state that rou- But critics maintain the ADA has cated business, and not only for tinely ranks among the top five for yet to deliver on its banner promise those involved on the accessibility doling out disability benefits, to increase significantly employ- side. monthly checks average $969. That ment numbers among the disabled. The Social Security Administra- was temptation enough for a mid- The employment-to-population ratio tion employs investigators to check dle-aged Forrest County woman to for working-age people with disabil- out the validity of all kinds of dis- claim debilitating rheumatoid arthri- ities was only 19 percent in 2018, ability claims, from back pain to tis. She applied for benefits, and compared with 66 percent for those agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder since the amount is based on prior with no disabilities. The data is hard that can involve fear of crowds. income, she got them to the tune of to untangle, though. As the ADA Investigations often initiate at the $2,000-plus per month. The bank lessened the stigma of disabilities, request of a doctor who suspects deposits went on for years until an the number of Americans claiming fraud and wants to ask a patient investigator videotaped her teach- disabled status increased to as many bearing application forms, “How ing a surprising class at the local as 1 in 5, according to the last cen- come I’m working, and you aren’t?” gym—aerobics. —K.H.

EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @WORLD_mag 07.18.20 WORLD 63

NOTEBOOK

Business Law Lifestyle

MORE THAN A PHARMACY Looters and arson in the Twin Cities destroyed a beloved neighborhood drugstore, but owner Jim Stage is confident God works in the restoration business

by Sharon Dierberger in St. Paul, Minn.

PHOTO BY SHARON DIERBERGER 07.18.20 WORLD 65 NOTEBOOK Business up the windows and door and posting a sign: “Please don’t destroy. This is locally owned, community owned.” A short while later, arsonists lit the first match. After Stage had instructed Anstett HEY SHATTERED DISPLAY WINDOWS and the glass front door and to send employees safely home earlier rushed in, swinging crowbars and golf clubs, grabbing merchandise, in the day, Anstett drove back to visually and throwing chairs. Many of the hundred-plus looters made a bee- check on the shop. He saw some of the line behind the counter, yanking bottles and packages of prescription first looters. To him, they looked less like drugs off the shelves. They destroyed what they didn’t steal, and all protesters and more like opportunists: evening groups of mostly young men tramped in and out, snatching “There were cars zooming in and then and smashing. Then several of them looked up and spray-painted over people were jumping out, and they’d the surveillance cameras, and Jim Stage’s screen went blank. break into a business, loot everything, T “It was surreal,” Stage says. “Like watching something out of a jump back in the car, and drive away.” movie.” Only it was real, and it wasn’t over. No other buildings next to Lloyd’s Stage was watching on his computer the live video feed from Lloyd’s Pharmacy, appear burned, although according to his St. Paul business since 2014 and an independent neighborhood pharmacy for published reports 55 businesses through- 102 years. On this evening, May 28, three days after George Floyd’s death while in Min- neapolis police custody, protesters gathered in the racially diverse St. Paul community of Hamline-Midway. Lloyd’s Pharmacy sits in the middle of it on busy Snelling Avenue. Exhausted from hours of viewing rioters pillage his store, pharmacist Stage fell into bed that night hoping Lloyd’s could sustain the blow and he could repair the damage. But at 3:30 a.m. he awoke to find two texts telling him someone had set fire to the pharmacy in the middle of the night. By 7 a.m., when he got to the scene, he saw firefighters spraying torrents of water at the smoldering shell of his store. They had battled the blaze all night, but the old wooden building burned too hot to quench. A backhoe arrived to knock out St. Paul suffered fire damage that over the walls leaning precariously into night. Jin Lim, owner of 7-Mile Sports- a debris-strewn parking lot. wear, about 3 miles from Lloyd’s, says Another Lloyd’s pharmacist, Kyle his business is a complete loss due to Anstett, embraced Stage in shared grief. looting and water damage. Sprinklers Firefighters approached and expressed gushed when arsonists lit fire to his store. sorrow over the total loss. Stage thanked “A LOT OF PEOPLE Next door to Lloyd’s stands Fusion them for trying to save his store. Phar- WERE IN SHOCK. Salon, untouched by rioting, although macy customers and neighbors gathered some water leaked in from fire hoses. around and cried. SOME WERE Owner Diane Brennan thinks looters “A lot of people were in shock. Some AFRAID. I WASN’T targeted Lloyd’s for the drugs. They hit were afraid,” recounts Stage. “I wasn’t AFRAID. I WAS pharmacies, gas stations, and liquor afraid. I was just sad.” stores hard that night. “What happened One man passed along to Stage a $20 JUST SAD.” shook us all to the core,” she says. She bill given by a stranger. Stage learned hopes Stage rebuilds to help keep the several good Samaritans tried to stop the community intact. ransacking the night before by boarding Processing what happened to his pharmacy is taking Stage time and faith. And keeping the business running is

66 WORLD 07.18.20 FACEBOOK challenging. His wife and five children, employees, customers, and church have all encouraged him to rebuild. But that first morning was especially difficult: “That’s when I was ready to throw in the towel. … You know you work so hard. You try to serve the public. … Pretty devastating.” Gradually, his outlook changed. He explains he first had to forgive the criminals: “I’ve been forgiven much, so I think it’s easier for me to forgive much. … If I withhold it, that doesn’t seem right.” He’s grateful no one hurt his employees or clients. He’s quick to say he doesn’t condone the violence: “The behavior needs to be dealt with justly.” He’s appalled at what happened to George Floyd but says no cause warrants wanton destruction. (Police have made no arrests yet in connection with the pharmacy fire.) Lloyd’s has served customers of vary- ing races for generations and has had three owners since 1949. It has been a pharmacy since 1918 when Florian Ritschel, son of German immigrants, bought the 1914 building and started Florian’s Pharmacy. The store is a block from Hamline University, the oldest university in Minnesota. Stage, 38, grew up in this historic his wheelchair: A Lloyd’s patron for 10 JIM STAGE (LEFT) TALKS WITH CUSTOMER RICHARD VIRCHOW. neighborhood, and his family bought years, he says the pharmacists know him medicine from Lloyd’s. He completed by sight, talk to him like family, and can his university internship there. After make up special medicines for him. was vital because it took two weeks employment for two years at a chain When Stage’s business partner Phil before Lloyd’s could access client drugstore, he worked for an indepen- Hommerding started a GoFundMe page records again, according to Anstett. dent pharmacy in Rochester, Minn., for to help rebuild Lloyd’s, contributions and While hoping to rebuild soon with the same man who owned Lloyd’s. Stage comments poured in. “Three generations the help of insurance, Stage plans to told him he wanted to return to St. Paul of my family have been well served by open a temporary satellite pharmacy in and buy Lloyd’s. Six years ago he did. Lloyd’s Pharmacy. … Blessings for the July two buildings away from his Before the fire, Lloyd’s was not only future,” one person wrote. burned-out shop. He says God provi- a retail pharmacy but housed the Meno- Right after the fire, Stage’s biggest dentially provided the fully functional pause Center of Minnesota and a state- hurdle was figuring out how to keep retail space complete with parking when of-the-art compounding lab to make customers supplied with needed medi- he rented it over a year ago for eventual prescription medicines not available cine. Committed Lloyd’s employees extra storage: “I know now why I got commercially. The pharmacy and lab moved 5 miles north to Setzer Pharmacy, that lease, but I never realized I’d need served about 8,000 patients, employed another of Stage’s independent phar- it this soon.” 37 people, and filled roughly 500 pre- macies. Space behind the counters is Stage says he’s watched God’s plan scriptions daily. Long-term care resi- crowded with pharmacists from both unfold throughout his life, and that dents, assisted living homes, and mental stores now, scrambling to fill twice as night in May was no exception. Even if health facilities depend on Lloyd’s for many prescriptions for the shop’s dou- he has no idea why his pharmacy burned regular deliveries. bled customer load. down, he laughs and says he keeps learn- Some customers have come to Lloyd’s Thanks to a Minnesota Board of ing God always has a good plan: “He is for 50 years. One family brings treats for Pharmacy regulation, pharmacists can the God of restoration. That’s something staff almost weekly. Another customer, provide short-term prescriptions to cli- He’s in the business of doing, and He Richard Virchow, 46, spoke to me from ents under certain emergencies. That wants that for everybody.”

SHARON DIERBERGER 07.18.20 WORLD 67 NOTEBOOK Law strates how the role of law enforcement has changed. The shift partially stemmed from the war on drugs that began in the 1970s, but Kidd says today’s aggressive police engagement often isn’t beneficial to society. THE TROUBLE A 2019 investigation of three Ohio cities—Cleveland, Columbus, and Cin- WITH TRAFFIC STOPS cinnati—showed racial disparity in Multiple studies point to racial disparities police stops in all three places. In Cin- in policing across the U.S. cinnati, for example, police made 120 percent more stops per resident in black by Jenny Rough communities than in white ones. Also, once stopped, black individuals made up 75 percent of the city’s traffic stop ROSECUTOR TOM KIDD was working for the city of Dayton, arrests. That doesn’t mean every stop Ohio, when he observed a troubling pattern in the cases or arrest was unwarranted or that racial that crossed his desk. “I noticed there were a lot of turn profiling was necessarily involved: On signal violations,” Kidd says. Police officers were issuing the contrary, investigators said they the minor traffic infractions in only one region of the city, ruled out bias at the personal level as a a predominantly black area. No white, middle-class driv- factor. ers were being pulled over for turn signal violations. But according to Eye on Ohio exec- According to Kidd, the traffic stops had a purpose: utive director Lucia Walinchus, it’s P “You had law enforcement looking for opportunities to doubtful the differences in traffic stop pull over vehicles in the hopes of being able to smell rates were due solely to higher traffic marijuana, for example. If you smelled marijuana, you infraction rates in black neighborhoods. then have a right to search the entire vehicle in the hopes Instead, the differences are more likely of finding drugs, firearms, whatever.” due to police departments placing more The days of Officer Friendly rescuing a cat stuck in a patrols in those areas. “Concentrating tree seem long gone. So-called active policing demon- officers in one area based on the number of arrests creates a vicious feedback loop,” Walinchus said. “Police hang out there more, pull more people over there, and thereby search more people there and then arrest more people there.” The death of George Floyd in Min- nesota and similar police-involved deaths in recent weeks thrust the issue of racial disparities in arrests into the spotlight, with mass protests on streets across the nation. After Floyd’s death, The New York Times looked at Minne- apolis city data and reported that although blacks make up only about 20 percent of the city’s population, they make up about 60 percent of arrests where force is involved. Washington Post writer Radley Balko has compiled an extensive list of data examining racial disparity across the United States, not only in policing, but also in areas such as bail practices, death sentences, and inmates held in isolation. (Balko includes any contrarian studies he found, too.) One example: According to a 2017 report by the National Registry of Exon- erations, the rate of drug use is roughly

68 WORLD 07.18.20 ALAMY the same among black people and white NOTEBOOK Lifestyle people, but blacks are almost five times as likely to go to prison for possession. Another example: A 2013 U.S. Depart- ment of Justice report showed that, among black drivers stopped by police, 19 percent were stopped for a vehicle defect, like a burned-out tail light, compared with 13 percent of white drivers. Yet another: Stanford University researchers analyzed 95 million traffic stops from 21 state patrol agencies and 35 municipal police departments. The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, found that black people were less likely to be stopped after sunset when skin complexion is harder to see. On the other hand, a 2006 study of that “veil of darkness” hypothesis in Oakland, Calif., didn’t show racial profiling in traffic stops. A handful of other studies also challenge the notion of racial disparity in policing. Still, most suggest the practice is widespread. Everyone breaks the law, probably every day. Civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate suggests the average Amer- ican commits three felonies a day. (His book Three Felonies a Day argued “vague laws are the lynchpin” that allows the government to go after whomever they want to target.) Whether GOD ALWAYS or not it’s accurate that everybody is a repeat felon, America unquestionably PROVIDED has a lot of laws on the books. According Ron and Sandra Johanesen strove to to researchers at the Library of Con- gress, there are so many federal laws trust God—and each other—while raising a that no official count exists. That con- family and living on a single income tributes to the overcriminalization of by Charissa Koh behavior, says Kidd, the lawyer who noticed the turn signal violations. 15TH IN A SERIES ON LONG MARRIAGES Kidd is a criminal defense attorney today. He switched sides after being influenced by Prison Fellowship founder IGH-SCHOOL SENIOR RON JOHANESEN was visiting his Chuck Colson and theologian Francis best friend Leeroy’s house after a game of mud football Schaeffer. Both were proponents of when he first noticed Leeroy’s sister—a “beautiful blond criminal justice reform that includes girl.” Ron learned he and Sandra went to the same Port- victim-criminal mediation, restitution, land, Ore., church. He soon asked her to be his date for a and second chances. Kidd says jails and formal event at school. prisons are overpopulated and aren’t Sandra, a shy sophomore, was surprised Ron noticed always the best place for rehabilitation, her. But she admired his compassion as he cared for his especially for nonviolent offenders. The H grandparents and befriended students with disabilities answer isn’t to demonize all police. But at their school. Sandra and Ron married in July 1976, after the police brutality that has come to finishing college. light in recent weeks raises more aware- About five years later, Sandra became pregnant, ness that changes are needed.

ILLUSTRATION BY CAP PANNELL 07.18.20 WORLD 69 NOTEBOOK Lifestyle a job. “There is a huge temptation to feel inadequate as a wife if you’re not seen as helping,” she says. “People don’t think you’re adding to your family and six weeks before the birth, they unless you’re making money.” Some- learned they were having twins and times she suggested the idea to Ron, but rushed to prepare. “We’d bought one he reminded her how important her set of everything,” says Ron. In the next presence in the home was. eight years, they had four more children. One morning, Sandra fought frus- Then in the fall of 1998, things THERE IS A HUGE tration as she read her Bible. Then a changed for the family. Ron stood on a passage in the book of Numbers caught 5-foot ladder, preparing the house win- TEMPTATION TO her attention: It emphasized the faithful dows for the approaching winter FEEL INADEQUATE leadership of Moses. Sandra felt God weather. As he shifted his weight, the AS A WIFE IF YOU’RE reminding her that He had chosen Ron ladder crumpled and 44-year-old Ron to lead their home and she should trust landed on the driveway, shattering his NOT SEEN AS God by not complaining and speaking pelvis. Two surgeries and 12 screws fol- HELPING. PEOPLE against her husband. That day was a lowed, and Ron was out of work for DON’T THINK turning point for her. three months. Now, after 43 years of marriage, the With an annual income of only YOU’RE ADDING Johanesens are empty nesters and plan around $30,000 or less, the Johanesens TO YOUR FAMILY to sell the large house in Portland where knew those three months would be UNLESS YOU’RE they raised their children. Ron still financially difficult. Yet they saw God works from home and keeps an office in provide during Ron’s recovery: Their MAKING MONEY. his garage. He is a few years from retire- church bought Christmas gifts for their ment, and he hopes to cut back his hours kids, and Ron’s employer continued soon. paying their health insurance premium. Ron reflects on the years when One night, a stranger even brought them money was tight: “Right at the begin- a box of food. ning, we stopped and we prayed and we Seeing God’s provision gave Ron asked the Lord to give us peace and that courage, and he decided to open his own He would provide. And He did. He accounting practice. “If the Lord can always did.” provide for me when I’m unable to even get off my back, surely he can provide for us through these hands,” he said. Sandra agreed, and the family cleared space to put Ron’s office in the base- ment, beside the laundry room. Their youngest child was 4 years old. Losing steady income and insurance was stressful: Ron paid the business expenses each month before paying himself. Sandra worked hard to stay within their budget and teach the kids to be content. Each month, they wondered if they could cover expenses, including the costs of homeschooling their kids. Once again, God met their needs. When their daughter’s appendix rup- tured, they rushed her to the hospital for life-saving surgery. The family didn’t have insurance at the time, but the hospital did not charge them for the procedure. Sandra, though, felt friends and family members judging her for not getting

70 WORLD 07.18.20 THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM Voices ANDRÉE SEU PETERSON EVERY DAY OF THE VISIT WAS THE TEST RESULTS.

an open-air restaurant with granddad in tow, even after she had felt symptoms. Never having got the pandemic rules down pat, the benighted woman lamely protested that she had been visited by only a couple of unpleasantries on the corona checklist, and that sunlight and fresh air are virus nemeses. On Day 2 of the visit the brother checked in with his wife in North Carolina, and they talked. She was One family’s very concerned about her sister-in-law’s possible corona illness because they have children and grand- corona story children coming to North Carolina from Colorado in mid-July, and now this! She told her husband he A potential infection exposes shouldn’t even be in the same house with the woman. our deepest desires Which in hindsight might have been the smartest early cost-benefit decision. The elephant in the room every day of the visit was HAT THE THOUGHTS of many hearts may the test results, which were so annoyingly slow in be revealed” (Luke 2:35). coming, and upon which the good-naturedness of all A woman’s brother came for a four-day parties hinged. visit after several years. We know it was During that limbo period the two sons snatched several years because he hadn’t seen the their grandfather away to safety at their houses till new kitchen floor tiling job, and remarked the holy grail of CVS conferring “clean” or “unclean” on it. status would turn up in the emails. They expressed T The day of his arrival the woman bought annoyance at likely having to forfeit long-anticipated fixings for cheesesteaks but chose not to have a hoagie vacation plans. The no-longer-feverish-but-occasion- at dinnertime with the rest of the family—brother, ally-headachy woman had a neighbor (whose flower husband, and father. While serving, she fleetingly bed she had weeded a week earlier) who was freaked wondered to herself why the thought of chipped steak out too. All of which unexpected reactions made the with extra sharp provolone didn’t appeal to her at the woman at the center of the COVID storm start to feel moment. her good standing in the family and the human race That night the woman retired early, excusing her- was predicated on her good health. self with unaccustomed fatigue, and grateful that her What comes to light in the unsavory tale, if one is husband could stay up to be hospitable. In subsequent sensitive to it, is that everybody is running into every- hours she had a fever, a mere touch of chills, and took body else’s deepest desire of the heart, a desire in each two extra-strength painkillers for a headache. that till this incident has been unsuspected by each; The woman felt fine in the morning but casually that has lain dormant under an alarmingly fragile mentioned the symptoms to the adult son who stopped amicableness; a desire that is now being threatened. in to pay his respects to his uncle. She did that some People will fight fiercely to safeguard that desire. In moments after giving him a reflexive hug at the front case you don’t know, a secret desire talks like this, if door—not thinking. In mothers’ logic, “stranger it had words: “Unless I have x, I cannot be happy.” germs” are bad but “family germs” can’t hurt. A quo- At first all this made the woman pray fervently for rum decided she should get tested for the virus, which quicker test results, so that everyone would be happy was done while the brother hung out with aged father again, and friendly again, and could un-cancel their (the main purpose for the visit). Test results TBA in cancellations, and so that the woman’s brother and two to four days. sister-in-law could have their Colorado visit. Enter the two millennial sons. Fastidious as Trap- She still prays that but with a little less certainty pist monks when it comes to the pandemic protocols, that getting “back to normal” is the most desirable they were angry to find their mother had gone out to outcome. If normal was so great, then why did God just shake it up? Could it be He has a better work in mind?

EMAIL [email protected] 07.18.20 WORLD 71 COVID-19 THIS YEAR DID Voices MARVIN OLASKY WHAT STEERS FOR THE PREVIOUS 28 COULD NOT: IT KEPT COWBOYS HOME ON THE RANGE.

the Newbery Medal–winning novel Rifles for Watie. Few, though, may know the history of steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging: I certainly did not. If you’ve never seen its five seconds of intense action: A cowboy rides his horse alongside a longhorn, leaps onto it, grabs the horns, and wrestles to the ground The other America its 450–650 pounds. (Note to animal rights advocates: Cowboys often suffer injury in the process, but a sur- History, steer wrestling, vey of 60,971 rodeo animal performances indicated only 0.04 percent of the animals—27 in all—were hurt.) and country music stardom Fans often credit the rodeo sport’s invention to collide in Checotah, Okla. America’s most famous black cowboy, Bill Pickett, who was born in Austin 150 years ago this December. National Cowboy Hall of Fame member Pickett head- N MAY 31, AS PROTESTS and looting hit large lined the Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough cities and the airwaves filled with talk about Riders Show that toured fairs and rodeos: Some say the great need for racial reconciliation, I he once bit the lip of a recalcitrant steer. Pickett died happened to be in Checotah, Okla. The city at age 61 when a horse kicked him in the head. of 3,481 is the “Steer Wrestling Capital of the The “World’s Largest Jackpot Steer Wrestling” con- World”—and 3½ miles northeast of it lies the test in May would have brought 300 cowboys to Roy site of the most racially diverse battle ever Duvall’s arena 4 miles west of Checotah, but COVID-19 O fought on U.S. soil. this year did what steers for the previous 28 years could Let’s start with a civil war that we hope was Amer- not: It kept cowboys home on the range. Since I couldn’t ica’s last. On July 17, 1863, smoke billowed and cannons watch the show, I read about Duvall, who a half century roared when nearly 3,500 Union soldiers defeated 6,000 ago earned the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Associa- Confederates. Native Americans representing 13 tribes tion world title in steer wrestling three times. He qual- fought on both sides. The 1st Kansas Volunteer Infan- ified to the National Finals Rodeo a record 24 times. try (Colored) demonstrated the fighting abilities of All the aches and pains that resulted had conse- African Americans when it defeated Texas cavalrymen. quences. Duvall told The Oklahoman in 2012: “Back Runaway former slaves from Missouri made up the then, everybody in the rodeo business drank. Well, I bulk of the first African American unit to see combat got started drinking and went through about an 11-year during the Civil War, so July 17 was a day of revenge. period that I got pretty bad. [Once] I was messed up Confederates blamed their loss on inferior weapons: so bad drinking I could hardly see the steer. I made a obsolete smoothbore muskets and flintlock shotguns, lot of money, but I threw a lot of money away gambling compared with the Springfield rifles and 12 cannons and drinking.” of the Union troops. A rain squall also left them with God intervened: “I got saved 28 years ago in Chey- wet gunpowder. enne, Wyo., and have been going to church ever since. Nevertheless, it rained on both armies. Union Gen. I try to tell all these young cowboys that they sure James G. Blunt declared, “I never saw such fighting as need to get saved and live right.” Duvall wrestled his was done by the Negro regiment. … They make better last longhorn in 2007: “You know that makes you feel soldiers in every respect than any troops I have ever good if you are right at 65 years old and you can still had under my command.” George Washington Grayson, throw them steers.” who became a Creek chieftain, said Southern Gen. I have room only to mention Checotah’s other claim Douglas Cooper was incompetent. Cherokee leader to fame: It’s singer Carrie Underwood’s hometown. Stand Watie replaced Cooper and gained promotion Her “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore” is a remarkable to brigadier general. Many WORLD members have read song about feelings of ambivalence toward success: “I’m in a world so wide … I miss the big blue skies.” Take a YouTube listen, please.

72 WORLD 07.18.20 EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @MarvinOlasky

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